Presented  at 


Clarksburg  West  Virginia 
June  13  and  15,  1923 


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A  PIONEER’S  CABIN 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2019  with  funding  from 
University  of  North  Carolina  at  Chapel  Hill 


https://archive.org/details/shawneetrailprogOOunse 


THE  SHAWNEE  TRAIL 

PROGRAM 


The  Official  City  Seal  was  Designed  by 
MISS  VIRGINIA  WOOD 


AN  HISTORICAL  PAGEANT 

Presented  at 

CLARKSBURG,  WEST  VIRGINIA 

JUNE  13  and  15,  1923 


CLARKSBURG  COMMUNITY  SERVICE 


HOME  COMING  COMMITTEES 


L.  K.  Richards 
G.  D.  Theleen 
L.  L.  Young 
L.  M.  Sutton 

Louis  A.  Johnson . 

Mortimer  W.  Smith,  Jr, 

C.  B.  W.  Chapman . 

Arthur  Heinze . 

Mortimer  W.  Smith,  Jr 

Miss  Ruth  Souders . 

Louis  A.  Carr . 

Roy  Ash . 

Mrs.  Corinne  Lockman. 

C.  H.  Wright . 

G.  D.  Theleen . 

A.  F.  Dennison . 

Samuel  Mallison . 

F.  H.  Marvin . 

J.  W.  Wooddell . 

Jack  Marks . 

Sheriff  Laco  L.  Young., 

Rev.  W.  I.  Canter . . 

James  J.  Devine . 

Jesse  Wade . . . 

B.  L.  Hoffman . 


Chairman  General  Committee  Roy  Ash 

Secretary  General  Committee  A.  F.  Dennison 

Jack  Marks 
J.  W.  Wooddell 

. Chairman  Parade  Committee 

. Chairman  Decorated  Auto  Parade 

. Chairman  Industrial  Parade 

. . Chairman  Fraternal  Night  Parade 

. Chairman  Ford  Day  Parade 

. Chairman  Girls’  Doll  Parade 

. Chairman  Mardi  Gras  Parade 

. Chairman  Registration  and  Reception  Committee 

. Chairman  Ladies’  Welcoming  Committee 

. Chairman  Industrial  Athletic  Meet  Committee 

. Chairman  Concession  Committee 

. Chairman  Program  Committee 

. Chairman  Publicity  Committee 

. Chairman  Historical  Pageant  Committee 

. Chairman  Tourist  Camp  Committee 

. Chairman  Free-Out-Door  Attractions  Committee 

. Chairman  Race  Meet  Committee 

. Chairman  Ministerial  Committee 

. Chairman  Finance  Committee 

. Chairman  Ford  Day  Committee 

. Chairman  Decorations  Committee 


HISTORICAL  PAGEANT 


Pageant  Committees 


EXECUTIVE  COMMITTEE 

C.  C.  Grimmett,  Chairman 
M.  J.  Henderson,  Vice  Chairman 
Hugh  Jarvis,  Treasurer 
P.  H.  Marvin,  Executive  Secretary 


OF  COMMUNITY  SERVICE 

Miss  Verne  Mathews,  Asst.  Sec’y. 
Mrs.  M.  L.  McGraw 
H.  H.  Dawson 
Arthur  Parsons 


PAGEANT  EXECUTIVE  COMMITTEE 


F.  H.  Marvin,  Chairman 
L.  P.  Souders 

Coal,  Oil  and  Gas — Hugh  Smith 
Dance — Miss  Ann  Boggess 
Costume — Mrs.  Wm.  G.  Osborne 
Grounds — C.  C.  Wood 
History — Harvey  W.  Harmer 
Industrial — D.  F.  McNicol 

HISTORY 

Harvey  W.  Harmer,  Chairman 

Miss  Emma  Davis 

Mrs.  A.  W.  Rapp 

Mrs.  C.  C.  Jarvis 

Mrs.  Walter  Riddle 

Mrs.  S.  A.  Smith 

COSTUME 

Mrs.  Wm.  G.  Osborne,  Chairman 
Mrs.  Nelle  Fletcher  Allman 
Mrs.  Virginia  Garrett 
Miss  Margaret  George 
Mrs.  Newell  Hayman 
Mrs.  E.  C.  Holmboe 


Music — Mrs.  W.  Lee  Williams 
Stage  Director — Forest  G.  Hall 
Stage  Management — Dana  Davis 
Transportation — H.  A.  Trench 
Photography — Floyd  B.  Sayres 
Production — Mrs.  Ray  Cuppet 
Programme — Samuel  T.  Mallison 
Prologue  Writing — Mrs.  B.  F.  Hornor 

COMMITTEE 

John  C.  Johnson 
William  M.  Swiger 
W.  G.  Tetrick 
S.  R.  Harrison 
Judge  Haymond  Maxwell 
Ray  L.  Strother 

COMMITTEE 

Mrs.  A.  L.  Law 
Mrs.  Robert  Monroe 
Mrs.  Amos  Payne 
Mrs.  Morgan  Parsons 
Mrs.  G.  L.  Pettrey 
Miss  Virginia  Wood 


PHOTOGRAPHY  COMMITTEE 

Floyd  E.  Sayres,  Chairman  Mr.  W.  R.  Hook 

Miss  Mabel  Bickle 


MUSIC  COMMITTEE 

Mrs.  W.  Lee  Williams,  Chairman  Vergil  Bork 

Ernest  E.  Melville  A.  E.  Kember 

C.  C.  Arms 


GENERAL  CHORUS  COMMITTEE 


Mrs.  W.  Lee  Williams,  Chairman 

Mrs.  F.  C.  Devericks 

Eleanor  Sloan 

Eva  Rogers 

Edith  White 

Natalie  Simmerman 

Winifred  Lynch 


Virginia  Reynolds 
Mrs.  F.  L.  Grant 
Virginia  Wood 
Mrs.  A.  J.  Smith 
Jesse  Shinn 
Junius  Musser 
D.  L.  Swiger 


INDUSTRIAL  COMMITTEE 


D.  E.  McNicol,  Jr.,  Chairman 

Greeley  E.  Hurst 

Max  F.  Johnson 

J.  F.  Early 

C.  E.  Margeson 

C.  D.  Newell 

G.  Marting 


Geo.  M.  Boone 
Wm.  F.  Osborne 
C.  W.  Ankeny 
O.  D.  Dickey 
Wm.  C.  Manser,  Jr. 
C.  H.  Wright 


59S074 


CLARKSBURG  COMMUNITY  SERVICE 


COAL,  OIL  AND  GAS 

Mr.  Hugh  Smith,  Chairman 

GROUNDS  COMMITTEE 

J.  H.  Ridenour 

H.  W.  Thrasher 

E.  R.  Rogers 

F.  S.  Turner 

PRODUCTION  COMMITTEE 

Mrs.  Ray  Cuppet,  Chairman  Mrs.  Margaret  Lippard 

Mrs.  Walter  Riddle  Miss  Nannie  Low 

DANCE  COMMITTEE 

Miss  Ann  Boggess,  Chairman  Miss  Isabelle  McGowan 

Miss  Angela  McManaway  Miss  Verne  Mathews 

Miss  Sara  Johnston 


C.  C.  Wood,  Chairman 
A.  H.  Cundell 
Wade  Robinson 
O.  L.  Showalter 
L.  K.  Richards 


ACCOMPANISTS  COMMITTEE 


Miss  Eliza  Smith,  Chairman 
Miss  Virginia  Lee 
Miss  Augusta  Caplan 
Wylma  Smith 
Katharine  Ernst 


Regina  Bradford 
Virginia  Ripley 
Evelyn  Sewell 
Edith  White 


Dana  Davis,  Chairman 
Earl  Johnson 
Jimmy  Lee  Hornor 
Wayne  Hornor 
Meyer  Siegel 
Dudley  Struve 


STAGE  MANAGEMENT 

Dr.  I.  D.  Cole 
H.  A.  Cropp 
George  Lynch 
Clarence  Waldeck 
John  Koblegard,  Jr. 


PROLOGUE  WRITING 


Mrs.  B.  Frank  Hornor,  Chairman 
H.  G.  Rhawn 
Lila  Shiras  Morris  Jarvis 
E.  Bryan  Templeman 


Anna  Holmes  Davis  Richardson 
Judge  Haymond  Maxwell 
Rev.  J.  T.  Carter 
Col.  Guy  D.  Goff 


TICKET  SALES  COMMITTEE 

J.  L.  McMillan,  Chairman  Thomas  G.  Wilkes 

August  Frenzel 


PROGRAMME  COMMITTEE 
Samuel  Mallison,  Chairman 


Forrest  G.  Hall 

I.  O.  Ash 
D.  R.  Evan 
Paul  Sheets 
L.  W.  Waugh 
Graham  Lynch 
Wade  Garrett 
Rev.  E.  B.  Turner 
W.  Roy  Hashinger 


J.  W.  Law 
Lee  Hedges 
Lyle  B.  Hornor 
Wayne  B.  Hornor 
O.  L.  Haught 
H.  B.  Kincaid 
John  Denham 
Wade  H.  Coffindaffer 
J.  Lee  Hornor 


STAGE  DIRECTOR’S  COMMITTEE 
Chairman 


Fred  Philpott,  Chairman 
George  McKinley 
Fred  Clevenger 


PROPERTY  COMMITTEE 

Raymond  Rowe 
Ross  Simpson 
Junior  White 


Southern  Pamphlets 
Rare  Book  Collection 
UNC-Chapel  Hill 


HISTORICAL  PAGEANT 


Officers  of  the  Pageant 

PAGEANT  DIRECTOR — Nina  B.  Lamkin,  Department  of  Dramatics, 
Community  Service,  maintained  by  The  Playground  and  Recrea¬ 
tion  Association  of  America,  New  York  City. 

ASSOCIATE  DIRECTORS— Mrs.  Harry  G.  Sturm,  Extension  Division, 
West  Virginia  University. 

Mrs.  Charles  W.  Mason,  Community  Service  of  Clarksburg. 

EXECUTIVE  DIRECTOR — F.  H.  Marvin,  Executive  Secretary,  Com¬ 
munity  Service  of  Clarksburg. 

BAND  DIRECTOR— Virgil  Bork. 

DRUM  CORPS  DIRECTOR— Brother  Constantine. 

CHORUS  DIRECTORS— Mrs.  W.  Lee  Williams. 

C.  C.  Arms. 


CLARKSBURG  COMMUNITY  SERVICE 


Community  Service  of  Clarksburg 


Foreword 


'HE  Historical  Pageant  brings  to  a  close  the  first  year  of  Clarks¬ 
burg  Community  Service  in  a  wonderful  demonstration  of  com¬ 
munity  co-operation  which  carries  more  significance  than  can  be 
expressed  in  printed  words.  The  many  activities  of  the  year,  touch¬ 
ing  practically  every  religious,  educational  and  fraternal  organization, 
have  made  it  easily  possible  to  recruit  the  cast  for  the  event  which 
seems  a  fitting  climax  to  many  beneficial  accomplishments. 


Pioneering  in  organized  amusement  and  recreation,  the  move¬ 
ment  has  served  as  an  inspiration  to  all  the  important  cities  surround¬ 
ing  Clarksburg  now  considering  or  organizing  community  projects. 
Some  of  the  outstanding  accomplishments  may  be  recorded  as  the 
marble  and  horse-shoe  tournaments,  Sunday  School  baseball  and  bas¬ 
ketball  leagues,  gymnasium  classes  for  both  men  and  women,  dra¬ 
matic  contest,  community  Christmas  program  and  supervision  of  the 
municipal  playgrounds.  A  recreation  leaders’  school  proved  one  of  the 
most  interesting  and  beneficial  activities  in  that  it  developed  a  group 
of  talented  leaders  to  further  broaden  the  scope  of  our  work.  We 
view  the  past  with  satisfaction  and  look  to  the  future  with  a  new 
hope  and  renewed  inspiration. 

To  those  who  have  given  so  generously  of  their  time,  money  and 
talent  to  make  the  institution  a  success,  may  this  foreword  convey  a 
message  of  sincere  appreciation. 


C.  C.  GRIMMETT,  Chairman, 

Community  Service  of  Clarksburg. 


HISTORICAL  PAGEANT 


Authors  of  the  Pageant 

The  Pageant,  “The  Shawnee  Trail,”  has  been  written  and  pro¬ 
duced  through  the  efforts  of  many  people  working  together  on  a  great 
community  project  which  has  as  its  aim  a  record  of  the  achievements 
of  the  past,  a  tribute  to  our  forbears,  an  appreciation  of  our  traditions 
and  a  vision  of  future  industrial  and  civic  progress. 

The  History  Committee  collected  the  data  and  wrote  the  his¬ 
torical  sketches.  The  Prologues  and  other  spoken  parts  were  written 
by  various  persons.  Credit  for  them  is  given  in  the  pageant  book. 

The  Pageant  was  dramatized  by  the  Pageant  Director. 

The  rural  scenes  were  under  the  supervision  of  the  Associate 
Director. 

The  Pageant  Executive  Committee  wishes  to  express  its  appre¬ 
ciation  and  thanks  to  all  committees,  organizations,  and  individuals 
who  have  labored  so  faithfully  to  make  the  production,  a  success. 


CLARKSBURG  COMMUNITY  SERVICE 


Greeting 

Friends  and  gathered  comrades,  greeting 
As  into  your  face  we  gaze. 

Welcome  are  both  friend  and  stranger 
As  they  were  in  Indian  days. 

Where  our  campfire  burns  this  evening 
Theirs  no  doubt,  was  often  made; 

Often  on  these  hills  around  us 
They  have  rested  in  the  shade. 

Looked  upon  this  vale  beneath  them 
With  its  forests  full  of  deer, 

How  remote  from  all  their  fancies 
Such  a  picture  as  this  here. 

Though  this  never  was  the  homeland 
Of  an  Indian  tribe  for  long. 

Yet  the  Cherokee  and  Shawnee 

Oft  sang  here  their  hunting  song. 

Sang  their  songs  of  patriotism, 

They  first  loved  our  ‘rocks  and  rills.’ 

Loved  the  Elk  Creek  and  the  West  Fork, 
And  our  green  and  wooded  hills. 

Over  mountains,  hills  and  valleys, 

By  their  trails  through  forests  dense 

Blazed  the  paths  for  us  to  follow 

When  their  fate  had  called  them  hence. 

Saw  the  same  stars  shine  above  them 
That  will  shine  on  us  tonight, 

Called  the  Northern  Crown  the  ‘Shawnees 
Round  their  council  fire  bright.’ 

Saw  the  Dipper  as  we  see  it, 

With  one  star  we  often  lose, 

Called  the  big  star  in  the  Handle 
‘Squaw  that  carried  her  papoose.’ 


Courtesy  Samuel  R.  Harrison 

FIRST  HOME  OF  THE  PRINGLES 


HISTORICAL  PAGEANT 


On  Pinnickinnick  red  willow 

Gathered  for  their  pipes  of  peace, 
Loved  the  hills  thrown  all  around  them 
As  the  Hellenes  loved  their  Greece. 


One  old  sachem  of  the  tree  tribe 
In  a  solitude  supreme, 

Sat  for  ages  on  the  hilltop 

Musing  in  the  age-long  dream — 


Dreaming  of  when  Indian  hunters 
Came  across  the  ‘Shawnee  Trail,' 
Men  of  free  and  noble  nation 

Whom  no  danger  caused  to  quail. 


When  their  light  canoes  shot  swiftly 
Past  the  West  Fork’s  wooded  shore 
Did  no  voice  prophetic  warn  them 

Soon  they’d  pass  that  way  no  more 


Gone — but  left  on  hill  and  river 
Their  imperishable  name! 

When  the  sunset  calls  us  also 
Can  they  say  of  us  the  same? 

Salem,  Bridgeport,  Milford,  Shinnston, 
Grasselli,  Zeising,  Quiet  Dell, 
Hepzibah,  Lost  Creek  and  Oral, 

Who  our  race  from  these  could  tell? 


Many  names  from  many  peoples — 

All  make  up  the  race  of  man, 

Gifts  from  this  one,  and  from  that  one, 


Make  today’s  AMERICAN. 

— ANNA  HOLMES 


DAVIS  RICHARDSON. 


CLARKSBURG  COMMUNITY  SERVICE 


CHARACTERS  AND  GROUPS  IN  ORDER  OF  ENTRANCE  AND  LEADERS 

CAST 

PROPHET  OF  PINNICKINNICK . S.  R.  Bentley 


PRELUDE 

THE  FOREST  NYMPHS — Elizabeth  Cummings,  Vivian  Kester,  Mildred  Burn¬ 
side,  Ruth  Born,  Irma  Queen,  Pauline  Mallory,  Elizabeth  Merifield,  Agnes 
Flowers,  Mary  Prudence  Thompson. 

VOICES  OF  THE  FOREST — Girls  of  Victory  High  School,  Verne  Mathews. 

THE  FOUR  WINDS — Girl  Reserves,  Mrs.  S,  Ralph  Thompson. 

THE  FLOWERS — First  Presbyterian  Church,  Mrs.  V.  Swearingen. 

THE  FLOWERS — Clarksburg  Baptist  Church,  Frankie  Pearcy. 

THE  FLOWERS — St.  Paul’s  M.  E.  Church,  South,  Mrs.  C.  W.  Conrad. 

THE  STAR  CHILDREN — Ruby  May  Barnes,  Evalind  Miller,  Alcinda  McGee. 
SPIRIT  OF  AIR — Bernadine  Carney. 

SPIRIT  OF  THE  SUN — Mary  Dorothy  Post. 

SPIRIT  OF  THE  WATER — Mary  Dell  Keough. 

AIR,  SUN  AND  WATER — St.  Joseph’s  Academy,  Mrs.  M.  J.  Kennedy,  Mrs. 
T.  R.  Mulheran. 

RAINBOW  FAIRIES — Enterprise  Four-H  Club,  Helen  Martin,  Lorene  Sturm. 


EPISODE  I 

SHAWNEE  CEREMONIALS 
1745-1765 
Indian  Chiefs 


PUCK-SE-KAW . 

CORNSTALK . 

LOGAN . 

TECUMSEH . 

PAXNOUS . 

BLUE  JACKET  . 

SWIFTFOOT  . 

FIRE  LIGHTER . 

INDIAN  MEN — Red  Men:  Alexander  Kerns,  C.  D.  Fleming. 


C.  W.  Bachman 
..Charles  Batson 

. W.  E.  Baker 

..Harry  G.  Post 
. A.  M.  Kerns 


Karl  Wynn 


MEDICINE  MEN — Charles  Randolph,  Curtis  D.  Fleming. 

INDIAN  WOMEN — Pocahontas  Lodge,  Mrs.  Curtis  Fleming,  Mrs.  E.  L.  Griffith. 
INDIAN  WOMEN — Maccabee  Ladies,  Mrs.  K.  E.  Moore,  Mrs.  J.  M.  Faulkineer. 
INDIAN  SCOUTS:  Red  Men:  Raymond  Kerns,  C.  M.  Booth,  Guy  Fortney. 
INDIAN  MEN  AND  WOMEN — First  Presbyterian  Church,  Virgil  Swearingen. 

INDIAN  BOYS  AND  GIRLS — First  Presbyterian  Church,  Mrs.  George  Coyle, 
Mr.  George  Coyle. 

INDIAN  MEN  AND  WOMEN — Central  Christian  Church,  Mrs.  E.  H.  Harris, 
C.  W.  Brown. 

INDIAN  BOYS  AND  GIRLS — Central  Christian  Church,  Miss  Nannie  Lowe. 
INDIAN  BOYS — Kappa  Sigma  Pi,  Mrs.  J.  D.  Hill,  Bryan  Flory,  Fred  Goff. 

INDIAN  BOYS  AND  GIRLS — Bridgeport  High  School — Mrs.  Walter  Riddle, 
Forest  G.  Hall. 


LITTLE  INDIAN  CHIEF — Roy  Taylor. 

INDIAN  SCOUT— Carl  Shriver. 

MEDICINE  MAN — Dale  Wilkinson. 

INDIAN  BOYS — Boy  Scouts,  Hugh  J.  Smith,  D.  B.  Frantz,  H.  Hemeyer. 
INDIAN  GIRLS — Campfire  Girls,  Lena  M.  Criss,  Thelma  Criss. 

INDIAN  DANCER — Mabel  Corder. 


historical  pageant 


episode  II 

COMING  OF  FIRST  SETTLERS 
1765-1774 

INDIANS  AS  IN  EPISODE  I 

JOHN  SIMPSON .  “D  /r  ti  . 

JOHN  PRINGLE .  . V”***;' . M  Baber 

SAMUEL  PRINGLE . . Ventley  Dorr  Pringle 

EARLY  TRADERS — Central  Christian  Church,  L.  F.  Deem  Mrs  C  H  HnrH? 

SURVFYT^qDEf?S^~^an?a  Sigmi  Pi’  Bryan  Flory»  Fred  Goff. 

SURVEYORS — Central  Christian  Church,  P.  M.  Baber. 


EPISODE  III 

CALL  TO  INDEPENDENCE 


1775-1783 
Scene  1 

A  PIONEER  RIDER. 

THE  FRONTIERSMEN — The  Central  Christian  Church  Rev. 
THE  FRONTIERSMEN — Kappa  Sigmi  Pi,  Bryan  Flory. 

THE  FRONTIERSMEN — Bridgeport  Group,  Forrest  G.  Hall 
OTHER  PIONEER  MEN. 


P.  M.  Baber. 


Scene  2 

THE  FIRST  CHURCH 

MINISTER — (JAMES  SUTTON) — Reverend  Benjamin  Stout. 

DANIEL  AND  PRUDENCE  DAVISSON — Mr.  and  Mrs.  F.  B.  Davisson. 
RHODA  WARD — Mrs.  Pensy  Cornwell. 

ELIZABETH  STOUT — Mrs.  Estelle  Kelly. 

MARY  EDWARDS — Miss  Edna  Lodge. 

THOMAS  BARTLEY— Mr.  T.  J.  Heavner. 

SAMUEL  BEARD — (Singing  Clerk) — Neal  Lawson. 

MR.  AND  MRS.  ZADOK  GOODIN — Mr.  and  Mrs.  J.  C.  Preston. 
THOMAS  NUTTER — Mr.  William  Cropp. 

BENJAMIN  HOLDEN — Reverend  Paul  Holden. 

NICHOLAS  CARPENTER — Mr.  George  Camp. 

MARGARET  ROBINSON — Miss  Mary  Faris. 

J.  J.  WALDO — Mr.  Allen  Fitzhugh. 

MEN  AND  WOMEN — Bridgeport,  Mrs.  Edward  Garrett,  Paul  Sheets. 
CHILDREN — Children  of  Bridgeport. 


Scene  3 

SURRENDER  OF  CORNWALLIS 

THE  TOWN  CRIER — 

ENGLISH  WOMEN — Daughters  of  the  American  Revolution,  Mrs.  R.  S.  Moore. 
ENGLISH  WOMEN — Catholic  Daughters  of  America,  Mrs.  M.  J.  Kennedy, 
Mrs.  T.  L.  Mulheran. 

ENGLISH  BOYS  AND  GIRLS — Shinnston,  Mrs.  Clyde  McCarty. 

ENGLISH  WOMEN — Quota  Club,  Miss  Belle  Leatherman,  Mrs.  Celia  Gartlan. 
ENGLISH  WOMEN — Corinne  Club,  Eleanor  Merrill. 

ENGLISH  WOMEN — Woman’s  Club,  Mrs.  Olandus  West,  Mrs.  Robert  Morris, 
Mrs.  John  Steinbeck. 

ENGLISH  WOMEN — Marcato  Club,  Miss  Cora  M.  Atchison,  Miss  Mary  Sheets. 
ENGLISH  WOMEN — I  Can’t  Tell  Club,  Mrs.  J.  C.  Johnson,  Mrs.  G.  D.  Theleen. 
GENERAL  O.HARA — K.  of  C.,  Percy  Byrd. 

FRENCH  SOLDIERS — K.  of  C.,  Mr.  J.  P.  Clifford,  Mr.  M.  L.  McGraw. 
CONTINENTAL  SOLDIERS — K.  of  C. 

BRITISH  SOLDIERS— K.  of  C. 

DRUM  CORPS — St.  Marys,  Brother  Constantine. 


CLARKSBURG  COMMUNITY  SERVICE 


Scene  4 

RECEPTION  AND  BALL 
All  English  Women  in  Scene  3. 

INTERLUDE  1 

SPIRITS  OF  THE  BLUE  GRASS  FIELDS  OF  WEST  VIRGINIA — Mary  Jo  Miles, 
Frances  Spires,  Susan  Smith,  Bernadetta  Slabaugh. 

BLUE  GRASS  FIELDS — St.  Joseph’s  Academy  Girls,  Mrs.  M.  L.  McGraw,  Mrs. 
T.  R.  Mulheran. 


EPISODE  IV 

SPIRIT  OF  HARRISON  COUNTY . Martha  Dorsey 

COUNTY  OFFICERS — Group  from  Rotary  Club  representing — 

B.  L.  Hoffman  Nicholas  Carpenter 

W.  A.  Watts  William  Robinson 

John  P.  Duval  John  Powers 

Benjamin  Wilson  Thomas  Cheney 

William  Lowther  Jacob  Westfall 

James  Anderson  Salathiel  Goff 

Henry  Delay  Patrick  Hamilton 

And  other  prominent  citizens  represented  by  direct  descendants. 

BENJAMIN  ROBINSON . Benjamin  Robinson 

JACKSON . Miss  Florie  Jackson 

LEWIS . Mrs.  T.  Moore  Jackson 

LEE . Mrs.  J.  J.  Duncan 

DUNCAN . Mrs.  Benjamin  Britt 

HUMBIRD . Mrs.  Lyle  Smith 

AUSTIN . Miss  Genevieve  Foruth 

CHAPIN . Mrs.  M.  W.  Smith 

SMITH . Mrs.  Mortimer  W.  Smith 

(HORNOR . Mr.  B.  Frank  Hornor 

(CARR . Mrs.  B.  Frank  Hornor 

PRIM . Miss  Gertrude  Boggess 

CAMDEN . Mrs.  A.  D.  Parr 

HURSEY . Mrs.  Ella  Hursey  Wade 

STEELE . Mrs.  John  Hursey 

HAYMOND . Mrs.  Ida  Haymond  Rapp 

VANCE . Miss  Lillie  (Vance)  Stealey 

Waldeck . Mrs.  Mallison 

PRITCHARD . Mrs.  Myra  Pritchard  Hall 

BOGGESS . Miss  Mary  Boggess 

SETON  . 

PECK . Miss  Mary  Peck 

STEALEY  . 

GARRETT . Mrs.  Ann  Garrett  Berry 

EIB  AND  YOUNG . Miss  Hettie  Young 

SOMERVILLE  . 

McAULEY . Mrs.  Homer  Williams 

WILSONS . Mrs.  John  W.  Brown 

HARRISON  . 

JARVIS  . 

LOWNDES  . 

GOFF  . 

moore  . 

ADAMS . Mrs.  Charles  Finley 

MARTIN . Mrs.  Clayton  McKeehan 

CRISS . Mrs.  Wm.  Harrington 

COUNTY  PICNIC  GROUPS — Shinnston,  Mrs.  Clyde  McCarty,  Mr.  D.  W.  Parsons. 

Scene  2 

CLARKSBURG  ESTABLISHED 

TOWN  TRUSTEES  Rotary  Club . Howard  Post,  L.  C.  Shingleton 

WILLIAM  HAYMOND . . . B.  Frank  Homo? 


HISTORICAL  PAGEANT 


NICHOLAS  CARPENTER . E.  L.  Long 

JOHN  MEYERS . O.  Ray  Cuppet 

JOHN  McCAULEY . Chas.  D.  Johnson 

JOHN  DAVISSON . Dr.  J.  F.  Williams 


PROMINENT  CITIZENS 

DANIEL  DAVISSON. . 

OBADIAH  DAVISSON . 

AMAZIAH  DAVISSON . 

SAMUEL  COTTRILL . 

ANDREW  COTTRILL . 

THOMAS  NUTTER . 

MATHEW  NUTTER . 

SOTHA  HICKMAN . 

SAMUEL  BEARD . 

THEO.  SHINN . 

FIRST  JURY  TRIAL 


. E.  L.  Branch 

. E.  B.  Turner 

. W.  R.  Hoffman 

,...Chas.  H.  Morgan 

. G.  M.  West 

. P.  H.  Koblegard 

....Frank  L.  Wilson 

. W.  A.  Sawyer 

C.  Wade  Robinson 
. J.  Wesley  Law 


KIWANIS  CLUB . Dana  Davis,  B.  L.  Hoffman,  W.  A.  Watts 

JUDGE .  Jack  Crews 

PROSECUTING  ATTORNEY . Dr.  L.  M.  Robinson 

ATTORNEY  FOR  DEFENSE . John  Smith,  Jr. 

DEFENDANT .  Clate  Powell 

STATE  WITNESS . Oscar  Wilt,  M.  J.  Henderson,  B.  A.  Watts 

DEFENSE . Ward  Fletcher,  H.  B.  Bainbridge 

JURY — Dr.  Langfitt,  Scott  Thompson,  A.  J.  MacDaniels,  Duffy  Floyd,  Raymer 

Parrish,  Louis  Carr,  Jean  Rolland,  Harry  Hoffman,  Dr.  A.  T.  Post,  Dr. 

C.  O.  Post,  O.  T.  Davis,  Howard  Henderson. 


Scene  3 

AN  INDIAN  RAID 

PIONEER  FAMILY 

INDIAN  MEN  in  Episode  I — Redmen'. 

INDIAN  SCOUTS  in  Episode  I — Redmen. 

INDIAN  MEN — First  Presbyterian  Church,  Central  Christian  Church. 
INDIAN  BOYS — Kappa  Sigmi  Pi,  Bridgeport,  Boy  Scouts. 

PIONEER  MEN  AND  WOMEN  in  SCENE  2. 

Scene  4 

THE  PEACE  TREATY 

ALL  INDIAN  CHIEFS,  ALL  INDIAN  MEN  and  large  INDIAN  BOYS. 
ALL  EARLY  SETTLERS. 


EPISODE  V 
Scene  1 

ON  THE  WAY  TO  THE  FIELDS 

MEN  AND  WOMEN — Saltwell  Community  Club,  Mr.  Geo.  Nixon,  Mrs.  Harry 
Shinn,  Bridgeport. 


Scene  2 

GROUP  SHOWING  LUMBERING.  _  _ 

GROUP  WITH  THE  PACK  CARAVAN,  Lumberport — W.  C.  Whaley,  R.  T.  Gray. 
GROUP  WITH  FIRST  WAGON — Prospect  Valley,  James  Coffman. 

SETTLERS — Clarksburg  Baptist  Church,  Frankie  Pearcy,  V/.  W.  Walters. 
SETTLERS — D.  O.  K.  K.  Men,  Floyd  Stuart,  S.  C.  Allen;  Pythian  Sisters,  Mrs. 
F.  C.  Deverieks,  Mrs.  Mary  Chidester.  D.  O.  K.  K.  Ladies,  Irene  Morgan; 

Knights  of  Pythias.  ^  __  _  0  ... 

MEN  AND  WOMEN — M.  E.  Church,  Miss  Romanna  Rowley,  Mr.  E.  V.  Smith. 

GROUP  WITH  COACH.  ,  or 

PIONEER  WOMEN — Business  and  Professional  Women  s  Club,  Nannie  R.  Lowe. 

MEN  AND  WOMEN — First  Presbyterian  Church,  W.  B.  McFarland,  Mrs.  W.  A. 
Broadwater. 


CLARKSBURG  COMMUNITY  SERVICE 


PHINNEAS  CHAPIN . Phinneas  Chapin  Smith 

NANCY  SOMERVILLE . Cleo  Somerville 

YOUNG  MEN  AND  WOMEN — First  Presbyterian  Church,  Margaret  George, 
Mary  Bramham. 

CHILDREN — Clarksburg  Baptist  Church,  Frankie  Pearcy. 

WEDDING  PARTY — Clarksburg  Baptist  Church,  W.  W.  Waters,  Frankie  Pearcy 
MINISTER — 


Scene  3 

STONEWALL  JACKSON — Preston  B.  Gandy,  Rotary  Club. 
HIS  SERVANT — 

SETTLERS  IN  SCENE  2. 


Scene  4 

RECEPTION  FOR  GOVERNOR  JOHNSON — Bridgeport  Groups. 

MAN  WITH  KEG. 

HORSEBACK  RIDERS. 

GROUP  COMING  TO  RECEPTION — Bridgeport,  Mrs.  Walter  Riddle,  F.  G. 
Hall,  Allan  Fitch. 

GOVERNOR  JOHNSON — Morris  Gluck,  Bridgeport. 

GUESTS  OF  JOHNSON. 

REST  OF  CROWD  AND  FIDDLERS. 


EPISODE  VI 
1861-1863 

PEOPLE  AT  MASS  MEETING — Early  Settlers  and  Previous  Scenes. 
DELEGATES  FROM  HARRISON  COUNTY — Parts  Taken  by  Descendants  of 
First  Settlers. 

JOHN  S.  CARLILE . W.  G.  Stathers 

THOMAS  L.  MOORE . Dr.  Luther  Haymond 

JOHN  J.  DAVIS . John  J.  Davis  Preston 

SOLOMON  S.  FLEMING . Dr.  Donald  H.  Fleming 

FELIX  S.  STURM . Ralph  J.  Sturm 

JAMES  LYNCH . Lawrence  Lynch 

WILLIAM  E.  LYON . Ellis  Lyon 

LOT  BOWEN . Karl  B.  Kyle 

WILLIAM  DUNCAN . Wallace  Duncan 

WALDO  P.  GOFF . Col.  Guy  D.  Goff 

B.  F.  SHUTTLEWORTH . ..Chas.  Shuttleworth 

OTHER  CITIZENS — Ladies  of  the  G.  A.  R.,  Mrs.  J.  E.  Henry,  Mrs.  E.  A.  Riley. 
ALL  GROUPS  OF  CITIZENS  IN  EPISODE  V. 


Scene  2 

WHEELING  CONVENTION 

ELEVEN  DELEGATES  FROM  HARRISON  COUNTY  NAMED  ABOVE. 
DELEGATES  FROM  OTHER  COUNTIES — Maccabee  Lodge,  E.  H.  Palmer, 
C.  M.  Jones. 


SOME  OF  THE  DELEGATES 

Wm.  B.  Zinn,  Chairman . 

George  R.  Lathem,  Secretary . 

W.  W.  Williams . 

E.  P.  Rohrbaugh . 

F.  M.  Chalfant . 

A.  S.  Withers . 

J.  W.  Hudson . 

P.  M.  Hale . ; . 

W.  L.  Gratt . 

J.  A.  J.  Lightburn . 

W.  G.  Willis . 

Col.  Wheat . 

John  J.  Jackson . 


. E.  H.  Palmer 

. C.  M.  Jones 

. Harley  Westfall 

. L.  G.  Dotson 

. Guy  Copenhaver 

. J.  P.  Crown 

. Wm.  Gabriel 

. James  L.  Gill 

Alfred  E.  Delmotte 

. Glenn  McGary 

. Guy  M.  Queen 

. Dewey  Clark 

. H.  L.  Sheets 


HISTORICAL  PAGEANT 


j.  woorter . .  L  Lightman 

REVEREND  PETER  LAISHLEY  AND  OTHERS— Maccabees,  E.  H.  Palmer, 
C.  M.  Jones. 

DRUM  CORPS — St.  Mary’s  School,  Brother  Constantine. 


Scene  3 

RECEPTION  TO  DELEGATES  ON  THEIR  RETURN 

CITIZEN  S  GROUPS  Ladies  of  G.  A.  R.,  Mrs.  D.  H.  Kelley,  Mrs.  A.  G.  Brown. 
PROMINENT  CITIZENS,  Represented  by  Group  of  Descendants,  Miss  Emma 
Davis;  Sons  of  Veterans,  J.  M.  Stealey. 

LITTLE  WEST  VIRGINIA . Esther  Grace  Henry 

LIBERTY . Mrs.  Nida  Crane 

UNCLE  SAM . George  Plum 


INTERLUDE  2 
VOICES  OF  THE  HILLS 

SPIRIT  OP  THE  HILLS . Sarah  Johnson 

WASHINGTON  IRVING  GIRLS . Mabel  Marshall,  Dora  Johnson 


EPISODE  VII 


Scene  1 


AGRICULTURAL  EXPANSION — FOUR-H  CLUBS 


SPIRIT  OF  PROGRESS,  Stealey . Metta  Messenger 

HUB  CLUB,  Saltwell . Charles  Righter 

SHINN’S  RUN  LEADERS . Blanch  Harmer 

CANNING  GIRLS,  West  Milford . Miss  Bertha  Lynch 

THE  FLOWER  GIRLS,  Enterprise . Miss  Helen  Martin 

RAINBOW  GIRLS,  Enterprise . Lorene  Sturm 

STEALEY  CLUB,  Clarksburg . Metta  Messenger 

GIRLS’  CLUB,  Lumberport. 

SEWING  GIRLS,  Shinnston . Mrs.  Clyde  McCarty 

PIG  AND  POULTRY,  Shinnston . Mrs.  Clyde  McCarty 

ISAAC’S  CREEK . Earl  Piggott 

SARDIS . R.  L.  Dennison 


COMMUNITY  CLUBS 


SALTWELL . Mr.  George  Nixon,  Mrs.  Harry  Shinn 

GRASS  RUN . Mr.  M.  L.  Williams,  Mrs.  Frances  J.  Kells 

BROWN  CLUB . Mrs.  Mary  Smith 

BRUSPIY  FORK . Mrs.  John  Lang,  Mr.  J.  C.  Pratt 

GOOD  HOPE . Mr.  Sherman  Burnside,  Mrs.  Chester  Burnside 

MINERAL . Mr.  L.  F.  Post,  Mrs.  W.  L.  Hall 

ISAAC’S  CREEK . Mr.  Guy  Bates,  Mrs.  Guy  Bates 


Scene  2 

EDUCATIONAL  EXPANSION 

MARCH  OF  PROGRESS — College  Club,  Mrs.  Laura  Showalter,  Mrs.  Virginia 

Scene  3 

EDUCATIONAL  EXPANSION 

W.  C.  T.  U . Mrs.  Newell  Hayman,  Mrs.  W.  H.  Cheuvront 

MOTHERS  CLUB . Mrs-  l-  J-  Coston 

LOYAL  TEMPERANCE  LEGION . Mrs.  A.  J.  McKinney 

AMERICANIZATION  DEPT . Mrs.  Walter  Elliott,  Lulu  Luce 

SCIENTIFIC  TEMPERANCE  INSTRUCTION  DEPT . Mrs.  W.  H.  Cheuvront 

DAUGHTERS  OF  AMERICA . Nelle  Heflin,  Leona  Sayre 


Scene  4 

INDUSTRIAL  EXPANSION 

CLARKSBURG  POTTERIES . 

PITTSBURG  PLATE  GLASS . 

INTERSTATE  WINDOW  GLASS . 

WEIRTON  STEEL . 

OIL,  COAL  AND  GAS . . . 


...D.  F.  McNicol 
...C.  H.  Wright 
..M.  F.  Johnson 

. . G.  E.  Hurst 

Hugh  G.  Smith 


CLARKSBURG  COMMUNITY  SERVICE 


INTERLUDE  3 

HONOR  TO  THOSE  WHO  DID  NOT  RETURN 


Y.  W.  C.  A.  INDUSTRIAL  CLUBS — 

Weirton  Steel  . Della  Bane 

Empire  Laundry  . Edna  Swisher,  Madeline  Barr 

EPISODE  VIII 
Scene  1 

SYMBOLIC  CHARACTERS 

AMERICA — College  Club . Iona  Cuppett 

DEMOCRACY — College  Club . . Merel  Allen 

SPIRIT  OF  WEST  VIRGINIA — Women’s  Club . Mrs.  Olandus  West 

PEACE — College  Club . Martha  Haislip 

TRUTH — College  Club . Frances  Williams 

JUSTICE — College  Club . Agnes  Gronemeyer 

MUSIC — Corinne  Club . Jane  McMurdo 

DRAMA — College  Club . Margaret  Lippard.. 

ART — Tuesday  Club  . 

EDUCATION — College  Club . Hazel  Leatherwood 

LITERATURE — Women’s  Club . Mrs.  S.  A.  Smith 

AGRICUTURE — Boys’  and  Girls’  Four-H  Clubs . Martha  Thompson  Hall 

INDUSTRY — Pythian  Sisters . Mrs.  D.  T.  Moneypenny 

HARRISON  COUNTY — Bridgeport  High  School . Martha  Dorsey 

CLARKSBURG — Catholic  Daughters  of  America . Mrs  M  L  McGraw 

GREATEST  MOTHER  IN  THE  WORLD— Red  Cross . Mrs.  Corinne  Lockman 


Scene  3 

CIVIC  CLUBS 

American  Legion 
Veterans  of  Foreign  Wars 
Daughters  of  American  Revolution 
Grand  Army  of  the  Republic 
Ladies  of  the  G.  A.  R. 

Sons  of  Veterans 
Red  Cross 

Ladies’  Auxiliary,  Veterans  of  Foreign  Wars 
W.  C.  T.  U. 

Business  and  Professional  Woman’s  Club 

First  Baptist  Church 

M.  E.  Church 

Central  Christian  Church 

First  Presbyterian  Church 

Corinne  Choral  Club 

Marcato  Club 

College  Club 

Woman’s  Club 

Tuesday  Club 

Quota 

I  Can’t  Tell  Club 

Washington  Irving  High  School 

Victory  High  School 

Kappa  Sigmi  Pi 

Boy  Scouts 

Camp  Fire  Girls 

Rotary  Club 

Kiwanis 

Chamber  of  Commerce 
Red  Men 
Pocahontas 

Maccabees  and  Lady  Maccabees 
Pythian  Sisters 
Knights  of  Pythias 

Women’s  Benefit  Association  of  Maccabees  No.  34 


A  GROUP  OF  COLONIAL  WOMEN 


HISTORICAL  PAGEANT 


D.  O.  K.  K. 

Ladies  of  D.  O.  K.  K. 

Daughters  of  America 

Catholic  Daughters  of  America 

St.  Joseph’s  Academy 

St.  Mary’s  High  School 

Four-H  Clubs  of  Harrison  County 

Community  Clubs  of  Harrison  County 


CLARKSBURG  COMMUNITY  SERVICE 


The  Story  of  the  Pageant 

THE  SHAWNEE  TRAIL 

The  music  for  the  Pageant  is  developed  through  the  Band,  a  Gen¬ 
eral  Chorus  and  a  Special  Chorus. 

PROLOGUES  throughout  the  Pageant  are  read  by  THE  PROPH¬ 
ET  OF  PINNICKINNICK. 

FIRST  PROLOGUE 


Nature’s  Gifts  to  West  Virginia 

Summer!  and  our  hearts  turned  toward  the  hills — 

Our  hills,  whose  strength  and  beauty  unforgot 

Call  to  the  exile  wheresoe’er  he  roam 

And  make  him  know  that  where  they  are  is  home! 

O,  green  clad  hills  and  sunny-lying  slopes 
With  summer  mists  and  wintry  snows  outlined, 

(All  Hills)  If  far  removed  from  low  desires  and  aims 

Thy  scattered  children  still  have  tried  to  climb 
The  steeps  youth  thought  so  easy  to  attain, 

The  courage,  strength,  ideal,  all  are  yours 
Who  first  directed  upward  each  one’s  gaze. 

We  know  in  other  places  there  are  hills 
As  beautiful  as  ours,  Olympus  high, 

Parnassus,  and  the  hill  where  Muses  dwelt, 

While  far-famed  Fujiyama  enters  in 
To  every  thought  of  those  whose  land  it  crowns 
But  just  for  us  Pinnickinnick  looks  down 
And  holds  out  circling  arms.  Our  fond  old  nurse 
(Pinnick-  Who  from  our  toddling  days  has  watched  our  steps 

innick)  Is  still  the  first  to  welcome  back  each  child! 

And  with  the  calm  serenity  of  age 

Points  out  wide  stretching  sweeps  to  tired  eyes. 

Peace  comes  as  she  directs  the  gaze  below 

Where  in  the  lovely  valleys  of  our  hills 

The  same  sun  shines  that  falls  on  Tempe’s  Vale, 

And  in  the  Vale  of  Kashmir  famed  in  song. 

No  sacred  Nile  or  Ganges  flows  along, 

With  crowded  banks  of  worshippers  devout, 

No  legend-haunted  castles  crown  our  Rhine, 

Nor  beautiful  blue  Danube  names  our  waltz; 

Yet  where  Monongahela’s  rippling  notes 
Make  running  melody  in  Nature’s  song, 

(Rivers)  Where  every  little  creek  laughs  in  the  sun, 

And  ‘books  in  running  brooks’  are  borne  along, 
There  living  streams  of  water  flow  for  us, 

There  are  the  magic  Fountains  of  our  Youth. 


HISTORICAL  PAGEANT 


In  other  lands  the  changing  seasons  pass 
Each  bringing  its  distinctive  beauty  gift 
Of  wind  and  snow,  of  flower  and  changing  leaf, 

Of  summer  storm,  and  sunshine  through  the  rift;  — 

But  O,  in  West  Virginia 
Now  that  summer’s  there! 

For  those  in  West  Virginia 
In  the  flowering  of  the  year 
(Flowers)  Find  in  every  dell  and  hollow 

Dainty  flowers  that  crowned  the  May, 

See  in  fields,  and  by  the  roadsides 
Blossoms  nodding  a  good  day. 

There  May-Apples’  waxy  blossoms 
Deck  wee  Innocents  close  by, 

While  the  Rev.  Jacks-in-Pulpits 
Frown  as  Johnny-jumps-up  high. 

Golden  hearted,  peasant  Daisy 
(With  those  petals  lovers  sigh  on) 

Gaily  dances  in  the  fields  with 
Pennyroyal,  Dandelion: 

Bouncing  Bet  with  Queen-Anne’s  Laces 
Flirts  with  Joe  Pye  in  the  field, 

And  with  magic  brew  of  Yarrow, 

Black-eyed  Susan’s  heart  is  healed. 

All  like  rosemary  bring  mem’ries 
All  like  pansies,  thoughts  disclose — 

But,  there’s  healing  for  all  heartache 
In  a  home  grown  garden  rose! 

Flowers  have  beauty,  flowers  have  sweetness 
Live  and  laugh  and  have  their  day; 

Trees  have  wisdom,  trees  have  knowledge, 

Still  our  oracles  today. 

Every  tree’s  a  Tree-of-Life,  straight  and  whole 
Every  leaf  has  healing  in  it  for  the  soul, 

(Trees)  Every  maple,  oak  and  beech 

Walnut,  laurel, — each  may  teach 
All  the  World-Tree  know  heaven-high  upon  its  knoll. 

In  the  orchard  blossom-laden  spreads  a  tree 
That  has  been  a  Tree-of-Knowledge  unto  me, 

There  the  ‘spirit  of  the  wood’ 

Whispers  all  that  makes  life  good — 

Homely  joys,  and  friendships  dear  its  fruit  I  see. 

The  ‘Signal  Elm’) — 

(A  Symbol)  There  was  a  tree — from  all  trees  else  apart, 

Upon  our  southern  hill  alone  it  stood 

Its  comrades  gone,  its  life  work  seeming  done, 

Yet  there  it  stayed,  to  itself  true  and  straight, 

Not  clutching  frantically  at  falling  leaves, 

Nor  cringing  coward-like  from  wintry  blasts, 

But  taking  each  thing  as  it  came  in  turn; 

For  years  a  symbol  on  its  lofty  height, 

Of  courage,  strength,  serenity  and  trust; 

A  comrade  fighting,  winning  victories  too, 

The  Master,  and  the  Captain  of  its  soul, 

Now  it  has  gone — as  we  when  comes  our  call, 

When  Destiny  would  lead  us  farther  on. 

The  skies  still  smile,  and  stars  shine  from  above 
Upon  its  vacant  place.  Yet  in  new  form 
Our  ‘Signal  Elm’  remains  to  bid  us  hope, 

And  listen  for  the  ‘Scholar-Gypsy’  song — 


CLARKSBURG  COMMUNITY  SERVICE 


Those  strains  that  shall  draw  all  men’s  souls  as  one 
Ah,  who  shall  hear  it  first,  and  follow  on! 

Not  in  ‘beguiling  songs  of  fame’  its  notes, 

Nor  in  the  loud  huzzahs  of  victory, 

Nor  in  the  jingling  of  the  coins  of  trade; 

But  in  the  whispering  of  the  summer  breeze, 
Or  broadcast  by  the  wind  before  the  dawn 
Or  in  the  echo  of  a  heart  in  tune. 


(Land  o’  Dreams) 

What  need  have  we  to  picture  happier  lands 
With  skies  more  blue,  or  lovelier  landscapes  blest? 

This  is  our  Land  o’  Dreams,  a  dream  come  true 
And  each  heart  feels  the  truth  that  HOME  IS  BEST! 

(Winds) 

To  hills  and  valleys,  rivers,  flowers  and  trees, 

Waft,  waft,  ye  winds,  the  ceremonial  smoke, 

May  there  be  peace  forever  in  our  camp, 

With  goodwill  unto  every  other  folk! 

— ANNA  HOLMES  DAVIS  RICHARDSON. 


“NATURE’S  GIFTS  TO  WEST  VIRGINIA” 

PRELUDE 

THE  VOICES  OF  THE  FORESTS 

THE  FOREST  NYMPHS  come  in  a  Dance  of  Greeting  and  sum¬ 
mon  the  Trees,  the  Flowers,  the  Star  Children,  the  Four  Winds,  the 
Air,  the  Sun,  the  Water,  and  the  Rainbow  Fairies  who  dance  the  Story 
of  the  Forests. 


PROLOGUE 


The  Trail  of  the  Afooriginees 


S  the  rainbow  smiles  its  promise  of  peace  and  security,  while  the 
thunder  of  the  departing  storm  still  distantly  rumbles — so 
smiled  this  pleasing  landscape  to  the  Shawnees. 

When  the  great  Workmaster  pronounced  it  “Good,”  picture  to 
yourself  this  primitive  loveliness !  To  these  rich  hills,  hidden  apart 
from  the  world’s  eye,  restore  their  forests  of  oak,  chestnut,  beech, 
walnut  and  hickory — carpeted  with  a  profusion  of  wildflowers  and 
sweet  fern;  the  many  streams  reflecting  the  beauty  of  laurel  and 
sycamore  in  their  clear  pools,  from  which  flsh  leap  and  splash  in  the 
sunshine ;  and  roaming  the  uncharted  expanse  every  variety  of  o’ame 
A  Masterpiece  Completed. 


The  constantly  changing  hues  from  dainty  spring  to  gorgeous 

environment  which  begets  the  spirit  of  mystery* 
the  beholder  is  lifted  above  himself — charmed;  and  to  the  first  dweller 
therein  it  was  the  veritable  abiding  place  of  the  Great  Spirit.  The 


HISTORICAL  PAGEANT 


murmuring  trees  breathe  His 

praise. 


presence;  the  falling  waters  chant  His 


The  Indian,  admitting  and  enjoying  his  kinship  with  beast  and 
bird,  belongs  to  it  all  as  naturally  as  they. 

The  Manitou  guards  His  own. 

—LILY  SHIRAS  MORRIS  JARVIS. 
EPISODE  1-1745-1754 
CEREMONIALS  OF  THE  SHAWNEES 


It  is  Springtime  in  West  Virginia,  the  time  of  corn  planting. 

The  Shawnee  Indians  are  gathering  to  celebrate  the  Corn  Festival. 
The  fires  are  lighted  and  the  chiefs  send  the  smoke  to  the  Four  Winds 
as  they  summon  their  people.  In  the  ceremonial  they  ask  the  Great 
Spirit  to  bless  the  seed  as  it  is  planted  and  to  bring  the  rain  and  the 
sun  that  the  seed  may  grow,  and  that  the  harvest  may  be  plentiful. 
The  chiefs  at  this  ceremonial  are  Cornstalk,  Tecumseh,  Paxnous, 
Logan,  Puck-se-kaw,  Blue  Jacket  and  Swift-Foot. 


PROLOGUE 

The  Coming  of  the  First  Settlers 

Surveyors  at  work  with  the  grape  vine  for  the  chain  and  guided 
by  the  sundial  and  compass  make  roads  for  future  villages  and  towns 
as  they  picture  mills  and  factories  in  their  vision  of  progress. 

Blue  mountains  in  the  distance  lift  their  heads, 

A  few  brave  men  more  daring  than  the  rest, 

Ask:  “What  lies  beyond  those  rugged  peaks?” 

And  so  they  came,  and  found  beyond  the  crests 
This  land  of  beauty,  giving  much  of  life. 

Men,  hardy  as  the  hills  they  conquered,  came, 

Settling  here,  ’mid  the  pines,  faithful  women  helping. 

Through  days  of  hardship,  nights  of  peril,  on  they  pushed, 

Bowing  the  untracked  forest  by  savage  foe  undaunted. 

At  last  they  found  a  place  beside  a  stream, 

Where  fish  and  game  in  plenty  did  abound. 

Then  here  they  marked  the  land  and  built  their  cabins, 

Sharing  the  pleasant  vale  so  sternly  won— 

A  fitting  compensation  for  the  valor  of  this  few, 

The  Pringles  and  the  Simpsons  and  the  rest, 

Who  pierced  the  trackless  wilderness  to  win  new  homes 
Beyond  the  great  blue  mountains  beckoning  men. 

Today — they  curled  up  in  smug  content — must  honoring  pause  to  pay 
To  yesterday  the  tribute  these  brothers  of  the  mountains, 

The  first  who  came  to  this  fair  land  of  ours. 

— H.  G.  RHAWN. 

EPISODE  11-1754-1774 

EARLY  SETTLEMENT  WEST  OF  THE  MOUNTAINS 

“I  hear  the  tread  of  Pioneers, 

Of  Nations  yet  to  be, 

The  first  low  wash  of  waves, 

Where  soon  shall  roll  a  human  sea.” 

—WHITTIER 

Axi  Indian  Scout  brings  the  news  that  the  White  Men  are  near- 


CLARKSBURG  COMMUNITY  SERVICE 


ing  the  village.  Great  excitement  reigns  as  John  Simpson,  the  Eng¬ 
lish  trader  who  first  traversed  this  section,  with  John  Pringle  and  his 
brother,  and  an  Indian  guide  and  interpreter  come.  They  make  friends 
with  the  Indians  and  trade  with  them.  A  Peace  Ceremonial  is  per¬ 
formed.  Other  settlers  reach  the  country  west  of  the  mountains  and 
the  first  permanent  settlement  is  made.  Some  of  the  first  families 
were  those  of  William  Raymond,  Benjamin  Wilson,  Elias  Hughes,  Ben¬ 
jamin  Copeland,  and  the  Hickmans. 


EPISODE  III— 1775-1783 
Scene  1 

THE  CALL  TO  THE  PEOPLE 

Patrick  Henry’s  call  to  the  people  “that  the  colony  be  immediately  put 
Into  a  state  of  defense”  traveled  rapidly  as  the  Convention  at  Richmond  closed. 
The  proposition  to  arm  the  colony  had  been  carried  and  the  committee,  includ¬ 
ing  Patrick  Henry,  Richard  Henry  Lee,  Benjamin  Harrison,  George  Washington 
and  Thomas  Jefferson,  formulated  their  plans  at  once. 


The  frontiersmen  west  of  the  mountain  receive  the  news  of  the 
Battle  of  Lexington  and  they  hasten  away  to  old  Fort  Pitt,  where  they 
pledge  their  lives  to  the  Cause  of  American  Liberty. 

Scene  2 


THE  FIRST  CHURCH  IN  HARRISON  COUNTY 

1776 


In  these  first  days  of  the  struggle  for  national  independence,  when 
people  gather  in  groups  for  prayer  and  to  ask  for  guidance,  the  first 
Church  in  Harrison  County  is  dedicated  at  Simpson  Creek.  The  peo¬ 
ple  gather  from  the  hillside,  some  arriving  on  foot  and  others  on 
horseback.  The  lining  of  the  old  hymn,  “When  I  Can  Read  My  Title 
Clear,”  is  followed  by  song  and  prayer.  The  record  of  the  church 
must  be  kept  clear  and  above  criticism — so  Rhoda  Ward,  whom  the 
people  say  is  a  witch,  is  tried  by  the  Church  Council  and  excommuni¬ 
cated.  The  pastor's  salary  including  contributions  of  hides,  tobacco, 
wine,  etc.,  is  raised  and  the  service  ends  with  the  Doxology  and  Prayer. 


Scene  3 

AT  YORKTOWN,  OCTOBER,  1781 
THE  SURRENDER  OF  CORNWALLIS 

n  The  ^  Town  Cner  is  making  his  rounds,  “Twelve  o’clock  and  all’s 
well  and  Cornwallis  is  taken.”  The  news  spreads  quickly  throughout 
the  coloma1  villages.  Great  rejoicing  and  thanksgiving  to  Almighty 
God  follows  the  message  of  victory. 

1^1  At/£UIA’clock  in  the  afternoon  of  the  nineteenth  of  October, 
1781,  at  Yorktown  Cornwallis  remaining  in  his  tent,  Major  General 
Ollaia  marches  the  British  army  past  the  lines  of  the  combined 

r  l  ench  and  Contmenal  armies  and  not  without  signs  of  repugnance 
makes  his  surrender  to  Washington.  repugnance, 

The  great  struggle  for  Independence  has  been  won,  the  last 


CLARKSBURG  COMMUNITY  SERVICE 


Article  of  Capitulation  has  been  signed  at  Yorktown.  The  colonial 
women  gathei  to  witness  the  ceremony  and  to  rejoice  over  the  victory. 

Scene  4 

Each  village  holds  its  celebration — doing  honor  to  our  soldiers. 
This  includes  a  reception  and  ball  where  many  of  the  colonial  dances 
are  presented. 

INTERLUDE  I 

THE  BLUE  GRASS  FIELDS  OF  WEST  VIRGINIA 

THE  BLUE  GRASS  FIELDS  OF  WEST  VIRGINIA  bring  their 
plentiful  harvests  as  an  offering  to  the  colonies. — A  Dance  Drama. 


PROLOGUE 

The  Commonwealth  of  Virginia 

0  the  hills  of  northwestern  Virginia  came  pioneers  of  hardy  stock 
— adventurous  and  sturdy.  With  broad  vision  unobscured  by 
the  light  chaff  of  social  fiction,  men  and  women  yearning  for 
larger  freedom  and  unhampered  opportunity  defied  hardships,  con¬ 
quered  the  wilderness  and  laid  deep  and  firm  the  foundations  of  true 
American  citizenship.  The  men  were  plain  and  unpretentious — inde¬ 
fatigable  in  industry  and  undaunted  in  courage.  By  their  sides  were 
women  superb  in  personal  charm,  unsurpassed  in  home-making,  un¬ 
afraid  in  the  face  of  danger,  and  withal  consecrated  to  virtuous  and 
noble  lives.  Thus,  without  the  mockery  of  assumed  elegance,  but 
guided  and  controlled  by  principles  of  simple  living  and  plain  dealing, 
there  grew  and  flourished  a  national  spirit  of  loyalty  and  a  community 
sentiment  of  brotherhood  that  is  our  cherished  inheritance. 

—JUDGE  HAYMOND  MAXWELL. 

EPISODE  IV— 1784-1800 
Scene  1 

THE  COUNTY  OF  HARRISON 

In  May,  1784,  the  General  Assembly  passed  an  act  forming  the 
County  of  Harrison  out  of  the  County  of  Monongalia. 

The  first  officers  appointed  by  the  Governor  are  named:— 

John  P.  Duval 
Benjamin  Wilson 
William  Lowther 
James  Anderson 
Henry  Delay 
Nicholas  Carpenter 
William  Robinson 
John  Powers 
Thomas  Cheney 
Jacob  Westfall 
Salathiel  Goff 
Patrick  Hamilton 
William  Haymond 

Other  prominens  citizens  represented  by  their  direct  descendants 


HISTORICAL  PAGEANT 


are:  Jackson,  Lewis,  Lee,  Duncan,  Humbird,  Austin,  Chapin,  Smith, 
Hornor,  Carr,  Prim,  Camden,  Hursey,  Steele,  Haymond,  Vance,  Wal- 
deck,  Pritchard,  Boggess,  Sehrn,  Peck,  Stealey,  Garrett,  Young,  Som- 
merville,  McAuley,  Wilson,  Harrison,  Jarvis,  Lowndes,  Goff,  Moore, 
Adams,  Marton,  Criss,  Robinson.  William  Lowther  produces  a  com¬ 
mission  as  sheriff  from  the  Governor.  Benjamin  Wilson  takes  the 
oath  of  office  as  clerk  and  the  business  of  the  County  Court  is  trans¬ 
acted.  William  Haymond  is  recommended  a  principal  Surveyor  which 
is  certified.  “Ordered  that  a  way  from  Clarksburg  to  the  Monongahela 
river  at  Wickwires  Ford  be  opened  and  that  John  Davisson  be  the  sur¬ 
veyor  thereof,  from  Clarksburg  to  the  Widow  Davisson’s  graveyard; 
James  Anderson  from  there  to  Robert  Plummer’s,  and  John  Goodwin 
from  there  to  the  ford.”  Court  adjourns  and  the  settlers  of  Harrison 
county  arrive  for  a  county  picnic — games,  old  songs  and  other  recrea¬ 
tions  make  the  day  one  long  to  be  remembered. 

THE  FIRST  JURY  TRIAL  OF  HARRISON  COUNTY 

The  first  jury  trial  takes  place  and  many  of  the  citizens  remain  as 
spectators.  The  members  of  the  first  jury  were: — 

Ebenezer  Petty 
Adam  O’Brien 
Edom  Night 
Alexander  Davisson 
Francis  States 
Louis  Duval 
Thomas  McCann 
Charles  Llarris 
Hezikiah  Davisson 
William  Haymond 
William  Tanner 
John  Cutright 


Scene  2 


CLARKSBURG  ESTABLISHED 

In  1778  Clarksburg  was  named  after  General  George  Rogers  Clark  and 
had  many  permanent  homes  though  it  was  not  established  by  an  act  of  the  Leg¬ 
islature  until  1795.  The  neighborhood  of  Clarksburg  was  peopled  by  an  excel¬ 
lent  class  of  pioneers  of  English  descent  and  at  an  early  period  took  rank  as  an 
educational  center. 


The  Town  Charter  is  signed  by  the  first  Trustees  of  the  town: — 


William  Haymond 
Nicholas  Carpenter 
John  Meyers 
John  McCauley 
John  Davisson 


Many  other  promment  citizens  are  present.  Announcement  is 
made  that  the  charter  has  been  received  for  establishing  Randolph 
Academy  and  that  the  Rev.  George  Towers,  a  native  of  England  and  a 
graduate  of  Oxford  University,  has  been  elected  to  supervise  the  work 
of  the  school.  Many  of  the  early  settlers  are  representd  by  their  de- 


Photo  by  Sayre  Brothers 

THE  SPIRIT  OF  WEST  VIRGINIA — MRS.  OLANDUS  WEST 


CLARKSBURG  COMMUNITY  SERVICE 


scendants  in  this  scene.  Randolph  Academy  was  chartered  in  1787 
and  opened  its  doors  to  the  public  in  1795. 

Scene  3 

The  Indians  have  carried  on  their  depredations  for  many  years.  Massacres 
in  which  the  Cunningham  family,  the  West  family  and  many  others  lost  their 
lives,  have  mai  ked  the  French  and  Indian  war  period  in  this  region  The 
settlers  are  constantly  alert.  The  Indians  seem  to  be  always  lurking  in  the 
background  ready  to  attack  the  colonists.  One  of  these  raids  in  1788  did  much 
damage  to  the  Monongahela  Valley  and  brought  new  terrors  to  the  settlers. 


A  family  fleeing  from  the  Indians  rush  in  to  the  village  and  are 
protected  by  the  people  as  they  flee  from  the  oncoming  savages  and 
pray  for  a  lasting  peace  between  the  Redmen  and  the  Settlers. 

Scene  4 
1795 

THE  PEACE  TREATY 

The  Indian  Tribes  assemble  at  the  call  of  their  chiefs,  Tecumseh, 
Logan,  Puck-se-kaw,  Swift-Foot,  and  Blue  Jacket.  (Cornstalk  was 
killed  in  an  earlier  raid.)  General  Wayne  and  the  settlers  meet  them. 
Puck-se-kaw  (or  Jumper)  speaks: 

“My  Father,  I  have  been  in  the  woods  a  long  time.  I  was  not  ac¬ 
quainted  with  the  good  works  which  were  transacting  at  this  place  by 
you  and  all  our  great  chiefs.  Last  spring  our  camp  was  robbed  and 
what  we  have  done  was  in  retaliation  for  the  injuries  we  sustained. 
As  soon  as  I  received  this  belt  which  you  sent  me  by  Blue  Jacket  I 
arose  to  come  to  you  and  brought  with  me  these  four  prisoners.  I  now 
surrender  them  to  you,  my  Father,  and  promise  that  we  will  do  no 
more  mischief.  Father,  we  beg  of  you  to  forgive  and  receive  your 
repentent  children.” 

The  treaty  is  signed  which  gives  to  the  frontier  the  promise  of 
a  peace  that  secures  life  and  liberty,  and  means  progress  in  the  paths 
of  Agriculture,  Education  and  Industry. 


EPISODE  V— 1800-1861 
PROGRESS  OF  THE  EARLY  YEARS 
In  Agriculture,  Education  and  Industry 

Scene  1 

ON  THE  WAY  TO  THE  FIELDS  IN  THE  EARLY  DAYS 

From  out  the  vista  of  the  dim  past  proceed  the  sturdy  pioneers 
with  their  flails,  crude  plows,  water  yokes,  scythes  and  hoes.  They 
surely  evoke  from  one  and  all  the  feeling  that  we  owe  much  to  them 
and  their  efforts.  All  honor  and  tribute  to  them  for  the  durable 
foundation  upon  which  our  later  progress  could  only  have  been  built. 


HISTORICAL  PAGEANT 


Scene  2 

EARLY  SETTLEMENT  LIFE 

The  immense  forests  of  early  West  Virginia  yield  much  lumber 
which  is  brought  to  the  streams  and  rivers  and  sent  to  centers  where 
it  is  needed  for  industry. 

Early  families  travel  over  the  mountains  with  pelts  and  furs  for 
barter.  Real  caravans  proceed  with  their  horses  fitted  out  with  pack 
saddles.  Bags  filled  with  feed  for  the  horses  on  the  way  out,  are  filled 
with  salt  on  the  way  back. 

Later  when  the  Northwest  Turnpike  is  developed,  progress  in 
early  travel  is  made  and  carts  with  solid  wheels  cut  from  logs  are 
used.  Soon  the  covered  wagons  and  coaches  appear.  When  messasges 
of  importance  were  to  be  carried  swift  riders  were  used  and  the  horses 
relayed  with  fresh  ones  at  intervals  in  the  journey. 

Phinneas  Chapin  and  Nancy  Somerville  pass  through  here  on  their 
honeymoon. 

A  group  of  students  come  to  enter  Northwest  Virginia  Academy. 
The  boys  and  girls  play  games  of  this  period. 

A  wedding  party  journeying  in  search  of  a  minister  arrive  and 
the  ceremony  and  the  festivities  which  follow  are  enjoyed  by  all  the 
settlers.  A  pioneer  wedding  is  an  outstanding  social  affair  of  these 
early  days. 


Scene  3 


1842 

“STONEWALL”  JACKSON  ON  HIS  WAY  TO 
MILITARY  ACADEMY 


In  1842  a  vacancy  occurs  in  the  ranks  at  West  Point  Academy. 
Jackson  hearing  of  it,  sets  about  to  gain  the  opportunity  for  study 
which  he  had  eagerly  hoped  for.  His  application  is  strongly  backed 
by  those  who  have  learned  to  value  his  integrity  and  exactness.  Jack- 
son  receives  word  from  Mr.  Hayes,  the  member  from  the  district,  that 
he  will  do  all  in  his  power  to  secure  the  appointment.  Packing  a  few 
clothes  in  a  pair  of  saddlebags  he  mounted  his  horse  and  accompanied 
by  a  seivant,  rode  off  to  catch  the  coach  at  Clarksburg  which  would 
take  him  to  Washington.  He  reaches  Clarksburg  only  to  find  that  the 
coach  has  already  passed,  but  undaunted  by  this  he  gallops  on— and 
overtakes  it  at  another  point,  and  arrives  in  Washington  on  time. 

Scene  4 


HARRISON  COUNTY  HONORS  GOVERNOR  JOHNSON 

Harrison  county  gathers  to  honor  one  of  its  citizens— now  Gov¬ 
ernor  of  \  lrgima.  It  is  always  good  to  meet  old  friends  and  in  antici¬ 
pation  of  this  event  many  preparations  have  been  made  including 
the  installing  of  a  keg  of  liquor  in  a  prominent  place  in  the  square 
The  stage  horn  sounds  in  the  distance,  all  is  ready  for  the  visitor  The 
stage  arrives  and  Governor  Johnson  receives  a  great  ovation-endin* 
with  a  dance  and  an  enthusiastic  pledge  of  loyalty  from  his  friends  ° 


CLARKSBURG  COMMUNITY  SERVICE 


One  Community — One  Flag 
The  Statehood  of  West  Virginia 

PROLOGUE 


9 


ND  now  West  Virginia  comes  into  her  own.  The  territory  be¬ 
tween  the  Alleghenies  and  the  Ohio,  complacent  but  long  con¬ 
scious  of  its  neglect  by  the  government  at  Richmond,  out  of  the 
exigencies  of  war,  finds  a  way  to  independent  statehood.  The  very 
character  of  its  soil,  as  well  as  its  climatic  conditions,  had  produced  a 
different  race  of  people.  They  were  the  product  of  pioneers  who  had 
braved  the  dangers  and  the  obstacles  of  wild  beasts  and  savage  men. 
Always  such  a  heroism  was  out  of  kinship  with  the  easy-going  man¬ 
nerisms  of  tidewater  Virginia.  These  men  were  the  volunteer  sentries 
at  the  outposts  of  civilization.  Nature  was  conquered  with  her  own 
weapons.  Lofty  conditions  produced  lofty  minds,  sound  bodies,  a 
tireless  energy,  a  daring  that  achieved  fine  and  marvelous  results. 
Isolation  fostered  economy,  independence  and  virtue — in  the  very 
nature  of  things  West  Virginia,  a  distinct  sovereignty,  arose.  And 
how  fitting  its  motto:  “Montoni  semper  liberi” ! 


The  state  is  but  a  unit  of  our  wonderful  country,  whose  splendid 
achievements  remain  ours  to  emulate.  Today  mankind  has  many  sins 
and  many  miseries.  Yet  this  is  not  a  world  for  the  selfish  greed  of 
gain,  or  the  selfish  struggle  of  power.  It  is  a  world  for  sacrifice,  sym¬ 
pathy  and  honest  toil — where  the  selfishness  of  self  must  and  will  be 
lost  in  the  service  of  others.  He  who  seeks  only  the  advancement  of 
self  is  the  merest  earthworm.  He  who  lives  solely  for  place  and  fame 
is  the  merest  trifler.  Only  he  shall  be  honored  with  immortality  who 
shall  acknowledge  that  above  the  desires  of  men  move  the  majestic 
laws  of  God,  out  of  which  come  the  intellectual  and  the  moral — the 
imperishable  freedom  of  the  people — the  inextinguishable  lights  of  a 
Christian  commonwealth. 

—COL.  GUY  D.  GOFF. 

EPISODE  VI 

THE  MEETING  IN  CLARKSBURG 


’Twas  from  the  strong  hearted  pioneers — leaders  in  thought  as  well  as  in 
action — that  the  creators  of  our  state  were  descended. 

Many  differences  had  gradually  been  separating  the  western  part  of  Vir¬ 
ginia  from  the  eastern  part  and  when  the  Ordinance  of  Secession  was  passed 
and  Virginia  seceded  from  the  Union,  they  could  not  agree. 


A  mass  meeting  is  held  in  Clarksburg  with  John  S.  Carlile  as  the 
leading  spirit,  where  all  declare  themselves  for  the  Union.  The  con¬ 
vention  at  Wheeling  is  planned  “To  consider  and  determine  upon  such 


HISTORICAL  PAGEANT 


action  as  the  people  of  northwest  Virginia  should  take  in  the  present 
fearful  emergency.” 

Eleven  delegates  from  Harrison  county  are  chosen  to  go  to  Wheel¬ 
ing _ John  S.  Carlile,  Thomas  L.  Moore,  John  J.  Davis,  Solomon  S. 

Fleming,  Felix  S.  Sturm,  James  Lynch,  William  E.  Lyon,  Lot  Bowen, 
Waldo  P.  Goff,  B.  F.  Shuttleworth. 

The  citizens  send  them  off  with  great  enthusiasm  and  the  Crea¬ 
tors  of  a  State  voice  their  loyalty  to  the  principles  for  which  they 

stand. 


Scene  2 

THE  WHEELING  CONVENTION 

Carlile  proposes  immediate  separation.  “Let  this  convention 
show  its  loyalty  to  the  Union  and  call  upon  the  Government  to  furnish 
them  with  means  of  defense — and  they  will  be  furnished.” 

Colonel  Wheat  protests  and  a  strong  discussion  follows.  Carlile 
speaks:  “I  have  been  honored  by  drawing  up  the  resolution  and  this 
convention  is  called  to  determine  upon  what  action  the  people  of 
northwestern  Virginia  should  take  in  this  fearful  emergency.  It  con¬ 
templates  action  whcih  will  keep  us  in  the  Union  and  preserve  to  us 
and  to  our  children  and  to  all  posterity  the  liberties  prepared  for  such 
action.” 

The  resolution  is  made  and  passed.  Prayer  is  offered,  the  “Star 
Spangled  Banner”  is  sung  and  with  cheers  “For  the  Union”  the  Con¬ 
vention  adjourns. 

Scene  3 

THE  STATEHOOD  OF  WEST  VIRGINIA 

The  delegates  return  to  Harrison  county  and  with  them  many 
other  delegates  on  their  way  to  their  homes. 

The  citizens  of  Clarksburg  receive  them.  An  ovation  is  given  the 
delegates  in  which  Little  West  Virginia  brings  the  new  Star  to  the 
flag. 


INTERLUDE  2 
THE  VOICES  OF  THE  HILLS 

The  riches  of  the  hills  and  the  beautiful  colors  of  spring  and 
autumn  are  developed  in  a  dance-drama. 


CLARKSBURG  COMMUNITY  SERVICE 


PROLOGUE 

The  Torches  of  Education,  of  Agriculture, 

of  Industry 

S  the  vanguard  pushes  on  into  the  unknown,  leaving  behind  it  a 
trail  which  the  army  follows,  so  it  is  with  Human  Progress. 
From  the  smouldering  spark  of  the  pioneer’s  fire  comes  the  flame 
that  lights  the  Torches  of  Expansion  and  Development. 

From  the  log  school  house,  with  its  reading,  writing  and  the  “rule 
of  three,”  education  expands  into  academies,  universities  and  public 
schools,  supported  by  a  charitable  literary  fund  out  of  which  springs 
the  system  of  free  schools,  which,  administered  by  a  state-wide  or¬ 
ganization,  carries  the  blessings  of  Education  to  all. 

The  small  clearing  in  the  forest  with  its  patches  of  corn,  gives 
place  to  large  areas  of  fertile  land  producing  thousands  of  bushels  of 
grain  and  countless  tons  of  hay. 

In  the  place  of  “stone  coal”  from  small  banks  and  oil  gathered 
in  blankets  from  the  surface  of  streams  for  medicinal  use;  and  natural 
gas  used  only  for  evaporating  salt  water,  there  has  developed  a  coal 
industry,  third  in  production  and  value  among  the  states  of  the  Union ; 
an  oil  industry  producing  over  16,000,000  barrels  of  oil  a  year;  and  a 
gas  industry  that  not  only  gives  comfort,  luxury  and  wealth  to  us  at 
home  and  others  far  removed,  but  has  also  drawn  to  us  the  steel  men, 
the  glass  factories  and  the  potteries. — E.  BRYAN  TEMPLEMAN. 

EPISODE  VII— 1864-1900 

Scene  1 

AGRICULTURAL  DEVELOPMENT 

The  Spirit  of  Progress  leads  the  boys  and  girls  into  Four-H  ac¬ 
tivities.  They  develop  their  projects,  but  best  of  all  they  develop 
HEAD,  HAND,  HEART  and  HEALTH.  Real  men  and  women  are 
developed  who  establish  farm  homes.  They  then  begin  to  think  in 
terms  of  group  activities  and  bring  about  Community  betterment 
through  Community  Scoring.  Communities  eagerly  vie  with  each 
other  to  improve  conditions  in  their  schools,  churches,  farms,  homes, 
etc.,  to  raise  their  score  to  the  highest  point. 

Scene  2 

EDUCATIONAL  EXPANSION 
THE  MARCH  OF  PROGRESS 

Scene  3 

Clubs  and  organizations  who  are  doing  educational  work  show 
us  their  principles  and  their  ideals  of  progress. 


CLARKSBURG  COMMUNITY  SERVICE 


Scene  4 

INDUSTRIAL  DEVELOPMENT 

The  Oil,  Coal  and  Gas  Industries  and  the  Potteries,  Glass  Fac¬ 
tories,  Steel  Plants  and  other  Industries  in  Harrison  county  show 
their  growth. 

PROLOGUE 

The  Soldiers  of  All  the  Wars 

Oh  memory!  Sacred  memory!  Recall  anew  those  treasured  recollec¬ 
tions. 

Refresh  our  minds  with  deeds  that  speak  of  daring,  valor,  and  of 
sacrifice, 

For  truly  can  it  be  said  of  the  sons  of  this  old  Mountain  State, 

With  our  honored  host,  “Bravely  they  fought,  and  well” — the  soldiers 
of  all  the  wars. 


Twas  not  love  for  spilled  blood,  or  flying  darts,  or  of  canon’s  roar, 

But  in  defense  of  humble  cabin  homes,  of  women,  and  of  children 
young, 

To  transfer  a  wilderness  primeval  into  an  abode  of  civilization  and 
liberty 

That  our  strong  sires  blazed  the  way,  and  took  their  places  in  French 
and  Indian  wars. 

And  when  the  Mother  Country’s  yoke  of  oppression,  beginning  to  gall, 

Called  forth  the  brave  to  defend  this  land  for  liberty  and  for  love, 

Though  upon  the  National  horizon  no  star  had  appeared  for  this  old 
state 

Her  strongest  sons,  their  muskets  seized  and  helped  to  win  a  place 
for  thirteen  other  stars. 

In  conflicts  oft’,  as  Eighteen-Twelve,  and  that  of  Mexico, 

Wherever  the  call  to  arms  did  come,  you  were  sure  to  find  the 
Mountaineer 

And  when  the  Civil  strife  arose  her  sons  must  part;  some  in  Blue, 
some  in  Gray, 

Honored  bravery  marks  their  deeds,  for  what  they  thought  to  be  the 
right,  whichever  the  cause. 

When  Liberty’s  bugle  sounded;  first  from  tropic  clime,  then  across 

the  seas 

Sons  of  Blue  and  sons  of  Grey,  side  by  side,  in  comradeship  marched 
away 

What  to  them  the  Demon  of  war  with  terror  beneath  the  sea,  and  in 
the  air, 

For  truth  and  freedom  must  prevail,  that  God  may  rule  and  thus 
remove  all  need  for  wars. 


— REV.  J.  T.  CARTER. 


HISTORICAL  PAGEANT 


INTERLUDE  3 

HONOR  TO  THOSE  WHO  DID  NOT  RETURN 


A  Mourning  Processional  in  honor  to  those  of  our  Heroes  who  did 
not  Return  from  the  Battle. 


EPILOGUE 

The  Passing  Years 

The  legends  are  told,  and  the  curtain  descends 
On  the  first  scenes  of  this  drama  of  progress, 

Where,  on  the  stage  of  the  years,  passed  before  us 
The  men  and  the  women  whose  names  are  recorded 
In  luminous  type  on  pages  of  history. 

Deeds  of  valor  we  saw — of  high  purpose — 

Of  fearless  endeavor — and  ever  before, 

Like  the  light  of  the  Grail,  gleamed  freedom  to  come. 

And  their  souls  reached  forth  to  the  mountains  around  them, 
Unconsciously  breathed  in  those  manifold  beauties 
Of  wondrous  dawns  and  of  nights  in  the  open — 

Expanded,  as  unfolds  in  quiet  places, 

When  touched  by  the  wind-blown  hair  of  fair  Daphne, 

The  first  pink  bloom  of  the  rank  rhododendron. 

’Tis  but  a  beginning — 

Theirs  was  the  vision — to  us  the  fulfillment. 

The  mind  of  man,  like  a  subtle  magician, 

Changed  trees  of  the  forest  and  cliffs  of  gray  stone 
Into  great  cities — smoke  shrouded — turbulent. 

The  hills  and  valleys  revealed  to  the  sunlight 
Long  hidden  stores  of  wealth  beyond  measure 
And  highways  of  commerce  are  noisy  with  traffic 
Where  then  ran  the  silent  trails  of  the  Shawnees. 

Swift  wings  of  airplanes  now  cleave  the  clear  blue 
In  paths  where  the  eagle  once  drifted  and  poised, 

In  days  long  ago — in  paths  long  forgotten. 

Splendid  the  heritage — straight  the  blazed  way 
That  leads  to  a  future  of  higher  achievement — 

Insistent  the  voice  of  the  past  urging  onward 
The  spirit  courageous  of  our  West  Virginia. 

— HOMOZELLE  MASON  HORNOR 

EPISODE  VIII 

America,  Democracy,  Truth,  Justice,  Peace,  Education,  Music, 
Art,  Drama,  Literature,  Agriculture,  Industry,  Greatest  Mother  in 


CLARKSBURG  COMMUNITY  SERVICE 


the  World  in  symbolism  appear  in  a  grouping  with  West  Virginia, 
Harrison  County  and  Clarksburg,  while  on  the  field  in  a  great  Ensem¬ 
ble  are  gathered  the  Patriotic,  Religious,  Fraternal,  Educational  and 
Civic  organizations  in  Harrison  county. 

We  pledge  anew  our  loyalty  to  our  Country  and  sing  the  “Star 
Spangled  Banner,”  then  in  a  great  Recessional  we  enact  the  closing 
scene  in  THE  SHAWNEE  TRAIL. 

THE  PLEDGE  TO  OUR  FLAG 

I  pledge  allegiance  to  my  Flag,  and  to  the  Republic  for  which  it 
stands,  ONE  NATION  INVISIBLE,  WITH  LIBERTY  AND  JUSTICE 
FOR  ALL. 


Photo  by  Ideal  Studio 

THE  SPIRIT  OF  HARRISON  COUNTY — MISS  MARTHA  DOKShA 


AN  OUTLINE  OF  THE  EARLY  HISTORY 

of 

HARRISON  COUNTY 

WEST  VIRGINIA 


Prepared  by 

THE  HISTORY  COMMITTEE 

and 

MISS  NINA  B.  LAMKIN 


So  build  your  community  that  quickened 
conscience,  larger  vision,  deeper  devotion 
and  equality  of  rights  for  all  men  will  re¬ 
solve  itself  into  an  enthusiastic  zeal  for  per¬ 
sonal  service  in  the  community.  All  who 
give  service  are  torch  bearers. 

Theodore  Roosevelt 


HISTORICAL  PAGEANT 


Trails  of  the  Aborigines 

1745-1765 


[HE  records  of  aboriginal  occupation  are,  of  necessity,  read  by 
means  of  bits  of  pottery,  arrow-heads,  and  like  relics.  For  un¬ 
counted  generations  the  Red  Man  had  roamed  and  hunted,  en¬ 
joyed  or  quarreled  with  his  neighbors,  and  worshipped  his  God  in  this 
trans-Allegheny  wilderness. 


Abundant  proofs  of  his  residence  are  to  be  found  scattered 
through  the  valley  of  Hacker’s  Creek  (Lewis  county),  and  its  tribu¬ 
taries.  On  every  hill  and  in  every  glen  are  to  be  found  those  mys¬ 
teriously  pitted  “cup-stones”  that  have  been  given  so  much  notice  by 
archaeologists.  In  the  main  valley  of  that  creek  are  the  sites  of  seven 
Indian  villages  with  their  adjacent  burying  grounds. 

But  by  far  the  most  interesting  and  puzzling  record  left  by  some 
vanished  race  is  the  great  Ash  Circle,  located  near  the  head  waters 
of  the  creek,  on  the  farm  of  the  late  John  W.  Marple,  (Upshur  county). 
A  belt  of  dark  ashes  sixty  feet  wide  encircles  a  clear  inner  space  sixty 
feet  in  diameter.  The  circle,  when  discovered,  (1821),  was  thickly 
strewn  with  fragments  of  bone,  mussel  shell,  flint  chips,  scraps  of 
pottery,  arrow  points,  and  stone  relics — evidently  the  votive  offerings 
of  a  tribe  that  had  been  either  exterminated  or  driven  away.  These 
circles  are  unusual  in  American,  or  Old  World  antiquities.  All  at¬ 
tempts  to  solve  the  riddle  have  been  futile.  The  permanent  aboriginal 
inhabitants  of  West  Virginia  will  probably  remain  undetermined. 


When  the  first  explorers  traversed  this  region  there  were  no  per¬ 
manent  habitations,  in  which  this  region  is  unique. 


There  is  a  tradition  among  the  Iroquois  of  fierce  and  bloody  wars 
fought  when  they  conquered  all  the  tribes  as  far  west  as  the  Missis¬ 
sippi  and  south  as  far  as  Alabama.  West  Virginia  was  included  in  the 
early  conquests  of  this  New  York  tribe.  Several  battles  were  fought 
among  the  West  Virginia  hills  during  which  the  streams  are  said  to 
have  run  as  with  blood.  It  is  quite  possible  that  the  Iroquois  found  an 
unconquerable  tribe  in  possession  of  West  Virginia  whom  they  ex¬ 
terminated. 


In  Withers’  Chronicles  of  Border  Warfare  it  is  stated:  “At  the 
time  when  Virginia  became  known  to  the  whites,  it  was  occupied  by 
many  different  tribes  of  Indians.  That  portion  of  the  state  lying 
northwest  of  the  Blue  Ridge,  and  extending  to  the  lakes  \\as  pos¬ 
sessed  by  the  Massawomess.  These  were  a  powerful  confederacy, 
rarely  in  amity  with  the  tribes  east  of  that  range  of  mountains.  Vi 
their  subsequent  history  nothing  is  known. 


“As  the  settlements  were  extended  from  the  sea  shore,  the  Massa¬ 
womess  gradually  retired ;  and  when  the  white  population  reached  the 
Blue  Ridge  the  region  to  the  west  was  used  by  the  Indians  as  a  hunt¬ 
ing  ground,  and  as  a  highway  for  the  warriors  of  the  different  nations 
in  their  tribal  wars  and  expeditions  against  each  other. 


Very  different  is  the  case  of  the  last  mentioned  Indians,  those 
who  made  this  their  hunting  ground  and  war  path. 


CLARKSBURG  COMMUNITY  SERVICE 


The  great  Algonquin  Nation,  which  included  the  Delawares,  Min- 
goes,  and  Shawnees,  with  their  many  sub-divisions,  were  constantly 
met  with  by  the  pioneers ;  and  those  Indians  were  found  in  undisputed 
possession  of  a  land  of  singular  beauty,  of  great  fertility  and  natural 
wealth. 

Some  of  the  greatest  Indian  captains,  orators  and  statesmen  were 
Shawnees;  among  whom  were  Cornstalk,  Paxnous,  Blue  Jacket,  and 
Tecumseh.  The  great  Logan  was  a  Mingo  chief,  named  for  William 
Penn's  secretary,  John  Logan.  He  was  a  true  friend  to  the  whites 
until  his  family  was  treacherously  murdered  by  them. 

During  the  hunting  season  the  Shawnees  came  here  in  great 
numbers,  bringing  their  women  and  children  with  them  and  remaining 
several  months.  It  was  on  such  a  trip  about  the  year  1768,  that 
Tecumseh,  the  greatest  Indian  military  genius  who  has  lived  within 
historic  times,  was  born.  Some  time  after  the  Treaty  of  Greenville, 
1795,  Tecumseh  was  in  the  settlements  of  the  upper  Monongahela  and 
visited  Hacker's  Creek.  While  there  he  stated  in  conversation  that 
he  was  born  on  that  creek. 

The  name  of  Chief  Cornstalk  once  thrilled  the  heart  of  every  white 
man  in  Virginia,  and  terrified  every  family  in  the  mountains.  He 
possessed  talents  of  a  high  order.  If  in  the  battle  of  Point  Pleasant, 
Cornstalk  manifested  the  bravery  and  generalship  of  a  mighty  leader; 
in  the  negotiations  at  Camp  Charlotte,  he  displayed  the  skill  of  a 
statesman,  joined  to  powers  of  oratory,  rarely  surpassed. 

His  dignified  recital  of  the  wrongs  which  were  oppressing  his 
people;  contrasting  their  once  happy  and  powerful  condition,  with 
their  present  fallen  fortunes  and  unhappy  destiny ;  and  his  reasonable 
proposals  for  regulating  future  intercourse  between  the  races,  de¬ 
servedly  places  his  name  on  the  roll  of  great  men — and  simultaneous¬ 
ly  gives  rise  to  the  reflection  that  no  greater  tragedy  can  befall  a  race 
than  that  its  history  shall  be  written  by  its  enemies. 

—LILY  SHIRAS  MORRIS  JARVIS 


HISTORICAL  PAGEANT 


The  Coming  of  the  White  Man 

1765-1774 


[HE  first  white  man  to  traverse  that  part  of  West  Augusta,  which 
is  now  Harrison  county,  was  John  Simpson,  said  to  be  a  great 
great  uncle  of  General  Ulysses  Simpson  Grant.  Simpson,  to¬ 
gether  with  John  and  Samuel  Pringle,  came  into  what  is  now  Harrison 
county  in  1764.  Pringles  were  said  to  be  deserters  from  the  British 
army  stationed  at  Fort  Pitt,  and  a  misunderstanding  arising  between 
them  they  parted  company  at  the  mouth  of  Three  Fork  creek  on  the 
Tygarts  Valley  river,  Pringles  going  up  the  river  and  Simpson  going 
up  Pleasant  Creek  and  passing  over  the  divide  came  to  a  stream  to 
which  he  gave  the  name  of  Simpson  Creek. 


Leaving  this  stream  where  Bridgeport  is  now  located,  he  came 
west  to  a  stream  which  he  called  Elk  Creek  because  he  shot  an  elk  in 
the  water  and  thus  provided  himself  with  meat.  Here  he  made  his 
settlement  right  and  built  a  rude  cabin  on  the  south  side  of  West  Fork 
river,  opposite  the  mouth  of  Elk  Creek.  Here,  Withers  states,  he 
remained  for  more  than  a  year  and  saw  not  one  human  being.  His 
food  consisted  of  game,  fish,  blackberries,  service  berries,  plums, 
ramps,  pawpaws,  persimmons,  and  various  kinds  of  nuts.  The  chest¬ 
nuts  which  he  stowed  in  the  ground  to  prevent  shriveling  and  which  he 
made  into  bread,  baking  on  heated  stones  are  said  to  have  made  an 
excellent  and  nourishing  food.  Fire  was  started  by  placing  tow  into 
the  powder  pan  of  his  rifle  and  igniting  it  with  the  flint. 

After  this  period  he  made  one  trip  to  the  South  Branch  to  trade 
what  furs  he  could  carry  for  ammunition,  salt  and  meal,  and  return¬ 
ing  to  his  camp  alone  remained  until  he  could  gather  a  canoe  load  of 
furs.  With  this  cargo  he  paddled  the  West  Fork  river  to  Fort  Pitt 
where  he  met  traders  with  whom  he  made  exchange  for  money  and 
food,  and  continued  his  lonely  journey  down  the  Ohio,  terminating  on 
the  river  in  Northern  Kentucky,  in  the  vicinity  of  Point  Pleasant,  the 
birthplace  of  General  Grant. 


His  “Squatters”  right  he  assigned  to  Nicholas  Carpenter,  and  the 
title  was  perfected  to  Carpenter  in  1781,  by  a  commission  created  to 
adjust  claims  and  titles  to  lands.  Carpenter  erected  on  this  land  in 
the  year  1786,  an  excellent  two  story  log  house,  located  about  four 
hundred  feet  south  of  the  brick  house  standing  on  Milford  street  and 
now  occupied  by  Mrs.  Nathan  Musgrave. 


This  was  the  birthplace  of  Mr.  J.  Erwin  S.  Stealey,  one  of  the 
oldest  and  most  respected  native  born  citizens  of  Clarksburg.  The 
house  was  razed  in  1886,  and  the  stone  on  top  of  the  chimney  bearing 
date  of  erection  was  accidentally  destroyed  a  century  after  it  had  been 
placed  there  to  commemorate  the  building  of  a  house  which  at  that 
time  was  one  of  handsome  design  and  strongly  built.  Carpentei  was 
killed  by  the  Indians  near  Marietta,  in  1791. 

After  the  disagreement  with  Simpson  the  Pringles  followed  the 
Valley  river  to  the  mouth  of  Buckhannon  river,  thence  up  that  river 
to  the  mouth  of  Turkey  run,  about  four  miles  north  of  Buckhannon, 
where  they  camped  in  a  hollow  sycamore  tree  said  to  be  3 


CLARKSBURG  COMMUNITY  SERVICE 


circumference.  The  third  generation  of  this  tree  is  standing  on  the 
same  spot  as  the  first,  having  sprung  from  the  roots  at  the  base  of  the 
stump. 

Here  they  lived  for  three  years  and  suffered  many  inconveniences, 
but  nothing  daunted  they  remained  and  made  short  explorations  to¬ 
wards  the  West.  On  one  of  their  excursions  they  discovered  a  stream 
flowing  west  and  followed  it  to  its  mouth  they  gave  the  name  to  the 
river  into  which  it  emptied,  West  Fork.  This  was  Stone  Coal  creek 
where  now  stands  the  city  of  Weston,  and  the  origin  of  the  name  of 
Weston  was  Westown,  a  town  on  the  West  Fork. 

After  a  residence  there  of  nearly  four  years,  they  went  to  the 
South  Branch  country  and  prevailed  upon  several  families  to  come  out 
and  make  a  settlement.  Among  them  was  John  Jackson  the  immigrant 
from  London,  the  ancestor  of  “Stonewall”  Jackson.  It  was  a  settle¬ 
ment  of  virile  courageous  men  and  women,  such  as  Elizabeth  Cummins 
Jackson,  the  wife  of  John  Jackson,  and  from  this  immigration  grew  a 
community  of  upright,  loyal  and  patriotic  people,  which  supremacy  is 
maintained  to  this  day,  and  descendants  of  the  Pringles  are  among 
this  citizenship. 

The  quarrel  mentioned  by  writers  between  Simpson  and  the  Prin¬ 
gles  could  not  have  been  very  violent,  because  one  of  the  Pringles  af¬ 
terwards  went  to  Kentucky  and  married  Rebecca  Simpson,  a  sister  of 
John,  and  from  this  alliance  the  mother  of  General  Grant  is  supposed 
to  have  descended. 


The  first  court  for  Harrison  county  was  held  at  Buckhannon,  and 
was  held  at  the  house  of  George  Jackson,  son  of  John  Jackson. 

Another  pioneer  into  West  Augusta  and  whose  descendants  have 
taken  a  most  active  part  in  the  affairs  of  this  state  from  their  arrival 
until  the  present  day  was  Morgan  Morgan.  Quoting  the  historian, 
Callihan : 


“The  Morgan  family  is  of  Celtic  origin— extracted  from  the  only 
white  race  or  clan  that  was  never  conquered  or  subdued.  The  word 
‘Morgan’  traced  back  to  its  Cymric  origin,  means  ‘Seabrink’  or  ‘one 
born  on  the  seashore.’  Glamorgan  County,  Wales,  is  situated  on  the 
coast,  takes  its  name  from  the  Morgans.  The  family  is  very  old:  mem¬ 
bers  of  it  held  important  posts  in  early  English  history,  and  were  pro¬ 
vincial  rulers.  The  West  Virginia  Morgans  are  descendants  of  Rev. 
Morgan  Morgan,  of  Glamorgan  County,  Wales.  In  1726,  he  came  to 
what  is  now  Berkeley  county  and  near  Bunker  Hill  made  the  first 
white  settlement  in  what  is  now  West  Virginia  territory,  and  here 
It!*  church  in  this  state,  the  Episcopal  church.  His  son, 

David  Morgan,  was  an  engineer  and  worked  with  George  Washington. 
On  one  of  his  trips  with  Washington  they  discovered  the  region  on  the 
Monongahela,  afterwards  taken  up  and  settled  by  the  Morgans.  It 
was  he  who  had  the  deadly  encounter  with  two  Indians  near  Prickets 
r  ort.  These,  after  a  desperate  battle,  he  killed,  and  with  his  compan¬ 
ions  from  the  fort,  skinned  and  tanned  their  hides,  which  were  con¬ 
verted  into  various  articles  for  ‘family  use/ 

Mi.  Daniel  M.  Ogden,  of  Clarksburg,  at  one  time  owned  a  purse 
made  from  the  skin  thus  tanned.  F 


HISTORICAL  PAGEANT 


From  Morgan  Morgan  has  sprung  a  family  that  has  played  a 
most  active  part  m  professional,  political,  and  various  business  pur¬ 
suits,  and  their  achievements  have  been  potent  in  bringinor  West  Vir¬ 
ginia  to  the  front  rank  in  this  great  republic. 

Governor  Morgan  on  May  8,  1923,  signed  a  bill  passed  by  the  leg- 
islature  for  an  appropriation  of  five  thousand  dollars  to  erect  a  monu¬ 
ment  to  Morgan  Morgan  at  Bunker  Hill,  in  Berkeley  county. 

In  the  year  1771,  John  Thomas  settled  on  Booths  creek  and  was 
one  of  the  first,  if  not  the  first,  surveyor  to  come  into  this  region.  He 
made  many  surveys  of  the  earlier  tomahawk  rights.  A  grapevine  was 
carried  for  the  chain  and  boundaries  were  properly  measured  and 
marked.  The  instrument  used  was  a  combination  sundial  and  com¬ 
pass,  his  guide  by  night  and  timepiece  when  the  sun  shone.  In  March, 
1781,  the  cabin  of  Mr.  Thomas  was  attacked  by  Indians  early  in  the 
evening  when  the  family  consisting  of  the  father,  mother,  seven  small 
children  and  a  young  woman  whose  parents  had  been  killed  by  the 
Indians,  were  at  family  devotions.  The  parents  and  six  children  were 
massacred  and  scalped.  The  young  woman,  Betsey  Juggins,  escaped 
but  the  eldest  child,  a  boy  fourteen  years  of  age,  was  carried  away 
captive  and  the  cabin  burned.  In  March  1888,  one  hundred  and  seven 
years  after  the  site  was  ploughed,  and  among  the  stones  and  charcoal 
where  had  stood  the  chimney,  the  sundial  was  discovered  in  a  brass 
case.  The  needle  still  trembles  on  its  balance  and  turns  to  the  North ; 
the  triangle  working  on  its  pivot,  is  raised  to  its  position  and  marks 
the  time  of  day.  This  instrument  is  now  in  the  possession  of  Samuel 
R.  Harrison. 

The  first  settlements  made  by  families  in  this  section  was  about 
two  years  after  the  arrival  of  Simpson,  and  the  first  white  child  to 
open  its  eyes  in  this  wilderness  was  Adam  Ice,  in  1767,  so  called  by 
reason  of  being  the  first  to  perpetuate  the  race  in  this  cold  and  un¬ 
grateful  forest. 

Notwithstanding  the  knowledge  of  the  great  dangers  and  hard¬ 
ships  that  threatened  life  at  every  turn,  the  passion  for  hunting,  trap¬ 
ping,  and  acquiring  rich  lands  for  homes,  impelled  many  to  risk  their 
all  among  a  most  savage  foe,  and  thus  make  habitable  a  land  of  great 
promise,  a  land  that  has  grown  into  one  of  the  most  prosperous  sec¬ 
tions  of  our  country,  and  has  produced  men  of  renown  in  science,  lit¬ 
erature,  law,  statesmanship,  soldiers,  the  pulpit  and  the  industries 
that  have  created  great  wealth  and  made  comfortable  and  luxurious 
homes. 

Are  we  grateful  for  what  the  pioneer  has  done  for  us  ? 

— SAMUEL  R.  HARRISON 


CLARKSBURG  COMMUNITY  SERVICE 


The  Call  to  Independence 

1775-1783 


first  Virginia  Assembly — the  first  representative  body  in 
America — met  on  June  30,  1916,  in  the  chancel  of  the  church  at 
Jamestown.  The  business  transacted  was  of  purely  local  inter¬ 
est — the  price  of  tobacco,  and  matters  of  self  protection — and  the  As¬ 
sembly  adjourned  in  six  days. 


One  hundred  and  fifty  years  later,  when  Virginia  and  the  other 
colonies  that  followed  her  had  grown  richer  and  more  powerful, 
thoughtful  men  saw  ominous  clouds  gathering,  and  the  growing  tyran¬ 
ny  and  oppression  of  England  caused  more  and  more  apprehension  and 
resentment  among  the  liberty  loving  men  of  all  colonies.  When  finally 
the  odious  Stamp  Act  was  passed  by  the  English  Parliament,  Virginia 
was  the  first  to  make  open  protest;  and  as  a  matter  of  prudence,  the 
act  was  repealed  in  1766. 


Meanwhile,  in  Virginia  had  been  growing  and  developing  the  man 
whose  eloquence  was  to  stir  the  Colonies  into  action.  The  young 
country  lawyer,  Patrick  Henry,  had  sprung  into  prominence  almost 
over  night  by  his  brilliant  speech  in  the  “Parsons’  case,”  in  which  he 
declared  that  the  Crown  had  no  right  to  over-ride  the  self-government 
of  Virginia.  The  House  of  Burgesses  was  in  session  when  the  news  of 
the  Stamp  Act  reached  Virginia,  and  when  Patrick  Henry  saw  that 
none  of  the  older  members  of  the  House  seemed  disposed  to  raise  a 
voice  in  protest,  he  scribbled  a  set  of  resolutions  on  the  fly-leaf  of  an 
old  law  book,  and  gave  them  to  the  House  with  a  rush  of  eloquence 
that  set  the  tone  for  the  whole  country.  He  declared  the  right  of  the 
Colonies  to  tax  themselves;  and  declared  that  Virginians  were  not 
bound  to  obey  the  Parliament  when  it  acted  against  this  privilege  and 
that  anyone  who  advocated  such  obedience  was  an  enemy  of  the  colony. 

After  the  House  had  adjourned  and  Mr.  Henry  had  gone  home, 
some  of  the  more  prudent  members  were  for  cutting  out  that  last 
defiant  resolution,  but  before  that  was  done  the  resolutions  in  their 
original  form  had  been  sent  throughout  the  Colonies,  and  had  kindled 
the  first  flame  of  revolution. 


Later,  when  the  ministers  of  Parliament  declared  their  intention 
of  removing  to  England  for  trial  anyone  charged  with  treason,  Patrick 
Henry’s  eloquence  was  not  needed  to  make  Virginia  unanimous.  See¬ 
ing  the  temper  of  the  Colonies,  Parliament  now  repealed  all  taxes  ex¬ 
cept  that  upon  tea— the  smallest  of  the  taxes,  retained  at  the  express 
comand  of  the  king  as  an  assertion  of  his  right  to  tax  the  Colonies  if 
he  so  pleased.  But  it  was  precisely  that  principle  to  which  they  ob¬ 
jected;  and  in  1772  Virginia  invited  several  colonies  to  join  her  in 
forming  Committees  of  Correspondence,  that  all  might  be  of  one  mind 
in  resisting  further  aggressions.  Lord  Dunmore  was  at  this  time 
governor  of  Virginia,  and  for  a  year  he  refused  to  call  a  meeting  of 
the  House  of  Burgesses,  but  did  so  at  last  in  March,  1773. 

Hearing  that  a  royal  commission  was  to  be  sent  from  England 
to  look  into  the  matter  of  the  burning  of  His  Majesty’s  ship,  Gaspee, 
certain  of  the  members  of  the  House — among  them  Thomas  Jefferson’ 


FIRST  SETTLERS  TRADING  WITH  THE  SHAWNEES 


historical  pageant 


Richard  Henry  Lee  and  Patrick  Henry — came  together  to  concert 
measures  for  the  common  protection,  and  by  the  end  of  the  year  five 
other  colonies  had  adopted  their  suggestions  and  the  Committees  of 
Correspondence  were  at  work. 

In  March,  1774,  the  leaders  of  the  government  in  England  passed 
drastic  measures  closing  the  port  of  Boston,  and  suspending  the 
charter  of  Massachusetts,  and  other  measures.  For  some  reason,  it 
was  not  until  June  2  that  the  new  statutes  were  heard  of  in  Boston 
and  a  month  before  that,  in  May,  1774,  Virginia  acted  upon  the  news, 
and  ordered  that  the  first  of  June,  the  day  when  the  Boston  Port  bill 
was  to  take  effect,  should  be  observed  as  a  day  of  fasting  and  prayer 
Dunmore  promptly  dissolved  them  for  their  pains  but  they  quietly  re¬ 
assembled  in  the  Raleigh  Tavern,  and  thence  issued  a  call  for  a  gen¬ 
eral  Congress.  This  action  is  signed  by  Peyton  Randolph,  of  Virginia, 
president;  Richard  Henry  Lee,  George  Washington,  Richard  Bland! 
Edmund  Pendleton  and  Patrick  Henry.  Every  colony  but  Georgia  was 
represented. 

Thus  both  sides  saw  that  their  differences  were  not  likely  to  be 
settled  without  arms;  and  what  is  considered  the  first  battle  of  the 
Revolution  soon  followed. 

The  frontier  in  western  Virginia  had  been  steadily  pushed  west¬ 
ward,  and  in  1774  the  Indians  had  already  by  treaty  given  up  their 
claim  to  all  land  east  of  the  Ohio  river.  But  they  saw  with  sullen 
alarm  that  the  white  man  was  not  likely  to  be  satisfied  with  this,  and 
that  he  was  encroaching  upon  Indian  territory  west  of  the  Ohio  and 
in  Kentucky.  The  French  had  made  use  of  the  Indians  in  the  French 
and  Indian  wars,  and  had  filled  them  with  vindictive  hatred  of  the 
English — a  feeling  which  the  conduct  of  the  frontier  men  was  not  cal¬ 
culated  to  soften.  Lord  Dunmore,  an  ardent  royalist,  was  not  averse 
to  turning  this  hatred  to  account  against  the  western  colonists  and 
thereby  weakening  their  powers  of  resistance  when  the  time  for  arms 
should  come.  An  agent  of  his  was  one  Dr.  John  Connolly,  whose  ac¬ 
tivity  in  stirring  up  trouble  between  the  Indians  and  the  whites  has 
been  doubted  by  some;  but  in  view  of  the  following  extract  from  a 
letter  of  his,  it  would  seem  that  there  are  no  reasonable  grounds  for 
doubt : 

“By  directions  from  Lord  Dunmore  I  have  prepared  the  Ohio 
Indians  to  act  in  concert  with  me  against  His  Majesty's  enemies  in 
this  quarter." 

Surveyors  were  now  at  work  on  both  sides  of  the  Kanawha  and 
along  the  Ohio,  locating  lands  for  the  soldiers  who  had  fought  in  the 
French  and  Indian  wars ;  while  settlers  were  pouring  into  the  new  land, 
building  cabins  and  clearing  cornfields.  The  Indians  saw  this,  and  ex¬ 
perience  had  not  taught  them  to  trust  the  whites  as  neighbors.  Sav¬ 
age  acts  and  atrocities  on  both  sides  followed  one  after  another,  and 
the  Indians  were  not  always  the  first  nor  the  most  to  blame.  Finally 
after  the  brutal  murder  of  the  family  of  the  chief  Logan  by  one  Daniel 
Greathouse  (not  by  Col.  Cresap  as  has  often  been  charged  and  as 
Logan  was  led  to  believe),  the  Indians  in  their  vengeance  made  no 
distinction  between  the  innocent  and  the  guilty,  and  it  was  soon  plain 


CLARKSBURG  COMMUNITY  SERVICE 


that  armed  protection  for  the  settlers  was  necessary.  Homes  were 
abandoned  by  the  score,  and  all  who  could  fled  across  the  Alleghanies. 

While  Lord  Dunmore  was  slowly  organizing  his  forces  east  of  the 
mountains,  the  settlements  were  calling  loudly  for  help;  and  at  last 
Lord  Dunmore  ordered  Col.  McDonald,  with  a  force  of  400  men, 
to  attack  the  Indian  towns  on  the  west  of  the  Ohio,  hoping  by  this  to 
drive  all  the  warriors  back  across  the  river  to  defend  their  own  homes. 
By  July  Col.  McDonald  was  at  Wheeling,  ready  to  obey  the  governor. 
The  attack  upon  the  peaceful  Indians,  the  destruction  of  their  villages 
and  houses  and  fields  and  crops,  and  the  killing  of  their  women  and 
children,  remind  us  of  later  wars ! 

Now  Lord  Dunmore  undertook  to  raise  two  armies — one  to  be 
commanded  by  himself,  to  march  first  to  Wheeling,  where  were  Col. 
McDonald’s  400  men,  thence  to  the  junction  of  the  Ohio  and  Kanawha 
rivers,  to  meet  the  second  army.  This  was  to  be  under  the  command 
of  Gen.  Andrew  Lewis,  and  was  to  march  to  meet  Lord  Dunmore’s 
army  via.  the  Greenbrier  and  Kanawha  rivers. 

Gen.  Lewis  at  once  set  about  forming  his  army,  and  his  brother, 
Col.  Charles  Lewis,  collected  several  hundred  men  in  east  Augusta 
county,  so  that  in  a  short  time  1400  men  were  on  the  march  for  their 
place  of  rendezvous  at  Fort  Union  (now  Lewisburg) ,  near  the  Green¬ 
brier. 

But  money  was  lacking  (not  Gov.  Dunmore’s  fault  this  time,  since 
the  Assembly  had  refused  to  give  the  appropriation  he  asked  for) ,  and 
supplies  were  scarce,  and  powder  and  ammunition,  as  always,  pitifully 
short.  Even  such  necessities  as  camp  kettles  were  hard  to  obtain ;  and 
what  with  these  difficulties  and  the  rough,  unsettled  country,  the  ab¬ 
sence  of  roads,  the  unavoidable  delays  in  various  parts  of  the  army, 
it  was  necessary  to  stretch  out  the  line  of  march  of  1400  men  over  200 
miles.  But  by  heroic  exertions,  the  army  was  on  the  march  toward 
Wheeling  by  the  last  of  September. 

By  October  6  they  had  reached  what  is  now  Point  Pleasant,  where 
they  were  to  join  the  army  of  Lord  Dunmore ;  but  instead  of  the  army, 
Gen.  Lewis  found  there  dispatches  informing  him  that  Lord  Dunmore 
had  changed  his  plans  (for  the  fourth  or  fifth  time),  and  that  he  would 
march  across  the  river  to  the  Indian  villages  on  the  Scioto,  and  that 
Gen.  Lewis  should  meet  him  at  a  designated  place  there.  Preparations 
were  at  once  made  to  continue  the  march,  although  the  army  was  not 
ready  for  an  advance,  and  not  all  the  supplies  had  come. 

The  Indians,  half  of  them  being  the  fierce  Shawnees,  were  under 
the  command  of  the  able  Cornstalk.  They  were  well  supplied  with 
ammunition  and  inspired  by  the  constant  war-cry  of  Cornstalk,  “Be 
strong!  Be  strong!”  They  reached  the  banks  of  the  Ohio  soon  after 
Gen.  Lewis  came. 

On  October  17,  in  obedience  to  still  another  order  from  Lord  Dun- 
more,  Gen.  Lewis  lead  his  army  across  the  Ohio.  Cornstalk,  seeing 
fuither  resistance  to  be  hopeless,  went  to  Gov.  Dunmore  and  asked  for 
peace.  Lord  Dunmore’s  terms  were  most  humane  and  just,  and  the 
Indians  agreed  to  them  with  alacrity.  Had  the  whites  kept  their  part 
of  the  agreement,  all  would  have  gone  well  and  much  needless  suffer¬ 
ing  and  bloodshed  have  been  spared ;  but  this  solemn  treaty  was  soon 


HISTORICAL  PAGEANT 


followed  by  the  treacherous  murder  of  Cornstalk,  then  a  hostage,  and 
his  entirely  innocent  son,  Elinipsico. 

This  victory  and  the  treaty  that  followed  made  it  possible  for  the 
next  two.  years  for  the  men  of  the  northwest  to  fight  west  of  the 
Alleghanies.  Armed  hostilities  were  already  in  progress  there  as  a 
proclamation  of  the  king  (though  dated  later  than  this),  shows 
....  or  in  any  way  aiding  or  abetting  the  persons  now  in  open 
arms  and  rebellion  against  our  government  .  .  .  .  ”  and  there  can  be 
no  doubt  that  the  northwestern  Indians  were  “as  much  the  mercenary 
troops  of  the  British  as  the  Hessians  and  others.” 

In  March,  1775,  the  second  Revolutionary  Convention  met  in 
Richmond,  and  it  was  then,  standing  in  the  pew  of  the  historic  old  St. 
John’s  church,  that  Patrick  Henry  made  his  famous  speech  ending, 
“I  know  not  what  others  may  think,  but  as  for  me,  give  me  liberty  or 
give  me  death!” 

In  1777  occurred  the  battle  of  Ft.  Henry,  also  reckoned  as  a  battle 
of  the  Revolution.  Ft.  Henry  was  at  first  Ft.  Fincastle,  after  one  of 
the  titles  of  Lord  Dunmore ;  but  after  the  flight  of  Dunmore  from  Vir¬ 
ginia,  the  name  was  changed  to  Ft.  Henry,  in  honor  of  Patrick  Henry, 
then  governor.  It  stood  on  the  site  of  the  present  city  of  Wheeling, 
and  not  far  from  the  fort  was  the  residence  of  Ebenezer  Zane,  the  first 
settler  in  that  region.  On  a  day  in  September  from  300  to  500  Indians 
appeared  before  the  fort,  armed  by  the  British  and  lead  by  Simon 
Girty.  The  garrison  within  the  fort  numbered  forty-two  men,  with  an 
unknown  number  of  women  and  girls.  After  fighting  bravely  and 
effectively  against  the  besieging  Indians,  the  supply  of  powder  in  the 
fort  was  exhausted,  and  a  young  girl,  Elizabeth  Zane,  volunteered  to 
go  to  her  brother’s  house,  about  sixty  yards  distant,  to  procure  some. 
When  remonstrated  with,  she  said  that  if  she  were  killed  she  could  be 
more  easily  spared  than  a  man,  and  she  was  allowed  to  go.  Strange 
to  say,  she  went  and  returned  in  safety,  bearing  with  her,  tied  up  in  a 
tablecloth,  the  precious  powder.  Thus  the  defense  was  continued, 
and  the  Indians  finally  driven  away. 

But  Harrison  county  was  not  formed  until  1784,  and  Clarksburg 
was  established  in  1785,  so  that  while  this  section  fought  bravely 
against  the  Indians,  and  suffered  much  at  their  hands,  it  was  too  far 
away  and  too  sparsely  settled  to  have  any  part  in  the  stirring  events 
of  the  Revolution,  unless  in  individual  cases. 

As  West  Virginians,  we  claim  a  part  . in  the  glory  of  Virginia. 
Virginia  was  the  first  state  to  adopt  a  constitution ;  the  first  to  recom¬ 
mend  a  declaration  of  independence ;  the  Declaration  was  written  by  a 
Virginian ;  George  Washington,  a  Virginian,  was  the  commander-m- 
chief  of  the  army  and  became  the  first  president  of  the  United  States  ; 
Virginia’s  men  were  in  the  field  for  eight  long  years.,  beginning  with 
the  battle  of  Point  Pleasant;  the  men  who  fought  this  battle  \veie  all 
Virginians;  “Virginia  gave  to  the  service  of  the  Revolution  the  elo¬ 
quence  of  Henry,  the  pen  of  Jefferson,  the  sword  of  Washington. 

—MRS.  JOHN  A.  PRESTON 


CLARKSBURG  COMMUNITY  SERVICE 


Harrison  County  Formed 

1784-1800 


XN  1734,  in  the  reign  of  King  Charles,  the  County  of  Orange  was 
formed  and  for  want  of  knowledge  of  the  country  west  of  the 
Blue  Ridge,  the  western  boundaries  of  the  country  were  describ¬ 
ed  as  extending  westerly  to  the  limits  of  Virginia,  and  in  November, 
1738,  under  the  reign  of  King  George  II,  that  portion  of  the  county  of 
Orange  lying  beyond  the  Blue  Ridge  to  the  “Western  Limits”  of  Vir¬ 
ginia,  was  divided  into  two  counties  by  a  line  to  run  from  the  head 
spring  of  Hedgeman  river  to  the  head  spring  of  the  Potomac  river, 
and  that  part  of  the  said  territory  lying  to  the  southwest  of  said  line 
and  beyond  the  top  of  the  Blue  Ridge  was  called  the  county  of  Augusta. 
That  part  of  Augusta  county  lying  west  of  the  Allegheny  mountains 
became  known  as  the  “District  of  West  Augusta.” 


The  General  Assembly  of  Virginia  in  1776  passed  an  act  dividing 
the  District  of  West  Augusta  into  three  distinct  counties  called  Ohio, 
Monongalia  and  Yohogania,  and  the  present  territory  of  Harrison 
county  was  left  within  the  bounds  of  Augusta  county,  and  in  1779 
the  mountain  region  of  Augusta  county  lying  on  the  head  of  Elk 
river,  Tygarts  valley  and  Cheat  river  (embracing  the  present  limits  of 
Harrison  county) ,  was  added  to  Monongalia. 

In  May,  1784,  the  General  Assembly  passed  an  act  forming  the 
County  of  Harrison  out  of  the  County  of  Monongalia,  providing  that 
from  and  after  the  twentieth  day  of  July  next,  that  that  part  of  Mo¬ 
nongalia  county  lying  south  of  a  line  beginning  on  the  Maryland  line 
at  Fork  Ford  on  the  land  of  John  Goff,  thence  a  direct  course  to  the 
head  waters  of  Big  Sandy  creek,  thence  down  said  creek  to  Tygarts 
valley  of  Monongalia  river,  thence  down  the  same  to  the  mouth  of 
West  Fork  river,  thence  up  the  same  to  the  mouth  of  Bingamon  creek, 
(the  present  Harrison  and  Marion  line),  thence  up  said  creek  to  the 
line  of  Ohio  county  ;  that  a  court  for  the  said  County  of  Harrison  shall 
be  held  by  the  justices  named  in  the  commission  of  peace  for  said  coun¬ 
ty  on  the  third  Tuesday  in  every  month  after  such  division  shall  take 
place  as  is  provided  by  law  for  other  counties;  that  the  said  justices 
shall  meet  at  the  house  of  George  Jackson  at  Bush’s  old  fort  on  Buck- 
hannon  river  in  said  county  upon  the  first  court  day  after  the  said 
division  shall  take  place,  and  having  taken  the  oath  prescribed  by  law 
and  administered  the  oath  of  office  to,  and  taken  bond  of  the  sheriff, 
proceed  to  appoint  and  qualify  a  clerk  and  fix  upon  a  place  for  holding 
court  in  said  county,  at  or  as  near  the  center  thereof  as  the  situation 
and  convenience  will  admit  of,  and  shall  proceed  to  erect  the  necessary 
public  buildings  at  such  place. 

In  January,  1800,  the  legislature  added  a  portion  of  Ohio  county 
to  Harrison,  beginning  with  the  mouth  of  the  West  Fork  river  thence 
with  a  northwest  course  to  Buffalo  creek,  and  up  the  same  and  its 
main  forks,  and  then  with  the  line  of  Ohio  county  to  Harrison,  and  in 
1804,  another  portion  of  Ohio  county  was  added  to  Harrison,  extend- 
ing  the  line  farther  north  and  west  so  as  to  include  a  part  of  what  is 
now  Doddridge  and  Tyler  counties. 


HISTORICAL  PAGEANT 


Harrison  county  as  thus  formed  included  either  wholly  or  par¬ 
tially  the  following  named  counties:  Randolph,  Barbour,  Marion, 
Pleasants,  Jackson,  Calhoun,  Braxton,  Pocahontas,  Lewis,  Tucker, 

Taylor,  Wood,  Wirt,  Gilmer,  Upshur,  Webster,  Ritchie,  Tyler  and 
Doddridge. 

Thus  it  will  be  seen  that  the  present  territory  of  Harrison  county 
has  at  various  times  been  included  in  Orange,  Augusta,  District  of 
West  Augusta  and  Monongalia  counties. 

All  the  records  made  prior  to  the  formation  of  the  county  were  a 
part  of  the  records  of  Monongalia  and  were  destroyed  when  its  court 
house  was  burned  in  1796. 

Pursuant  to  the  act  of  the  General  Assembly  forming  the  county 
of  Harrison,  John  P.  Duval,  Benjamin  Wilson,  William  Lowther,  James 
Anderson,  Henry  Delay,  Nicholas  Carpenter,  William  Robinson,  John 
Powers,  Thomas  Cheney,  Jacob  Westfall,  Salathiel  Goff  and  Patrick 
Hamilton,  justices  named  by  the  governor  in  a  commission,  met  at  the 
house  of  George  Jackson  on  Buckhannon  river  on  the  20th  day  of 
July,  1784,  and  William  Lowther  presented  a  commission  from  his 
excellency,  the  Governor,  appointing  him  sheriff  of  the  county,  and 
he  entered  into  a  bond,  with  Benjamin  Wilson  as  security  and  took  the 
oath  of  allegiance  to  the  commonwealth  and  oath  of  office  as  directed 
by  law. 

Benjamin  Wilson  was  chosen  clerk  of  the  court  of  said  county 
and  likewise  took  the  oath.  The  court  being  thus  organized  transacted 
the  following  business: 

William  Haymond  was  recommended  to  his  excellency,  the  Gov¬ 
ernor,  as  the  proper  person  to  fill  the  office  as  principal  surveyor,  and 
James  Anderson  and  Nicholas  Carpenter  were  likewise  recommended 
as  the  proper  persons  to  fill  the  office  of  coroner,  and  John  P.  Duval  as 
the  proper  person  to  be  county  lieutenant,  and  Benjamin  Wilson,  col¬ 
onel,  Henry  Delay,  lieutenant  colonel,  and  William  Robinson,  major. 

On  the  same  day  it  was  ordered  that  Clarksburg  be  the  place  for 
erecting  the  public  buildings  for  the  county,  and  that  one-quarter 
of  an  acre  of  land  or  lot  No.  8,  formerly  belonging  to  Daniel  Davisson 
be  appropriated  for  the  purpose  of  erecting  the  public  buildings  upon, 
together  with  one-quarter  of  an  acre,  or  lot  No.  7,  formerly  belonging 
to  Joseph  Hastings,  adjoining  thereto,  be  applied  to  the  aforesaid  pur¬ 
pose,  and  these  twro  men  agreed  in  open  court  to  make  a  deed  in  fee 
simple  for  said  land  to  the  present  court  and  their  successors  so  long 
as  the  court  house  and  other  buildings  shall  continue  thereon. 

The  court  ordered  that  the  sheriff  summon  twenty-four  free¬ 
holders  for  the  grand  jury  of  inquest  for  the  body  of  the  county  to 
appear  at  the  next  November  court. 

Ordered  that  George  Jackson,  John  McCally,  John  Sleeth,  John 
Wilson,  Cornelius  Westfall,  John  Goodwin,  Edward  Jackson,  Benjamin 
Robinson,  John  Prunty  and  Robert  Maxwell  are  proper  persons  to  be 
recommended  to  the  governor  to  fill  the  office  of  justice  of  the  peace 

for  said  county.  A  _  TT  ~  ,  T  u 

Ordered  that  Salathial  Goff,  James  Anderson,  Henry  Delay,  Jacob 

Westfall,  Patrick  Hamilton,  Thomas  Cheney,  William  Robinson  and 
John  Sleeth  are  appointed  to  celebrate  the  rites  of  matrimony. 


CLARKSBURG  COMMUNITY  SERVICE 


Ordered  that  Charles  Harris,  Obediah  Davisson,  James  Runyan, 
Michael  Johnson,  Jacob  Riffee,  John  Currence  and  Mathius  Whiteman 
be  appointed  constables,  and  to  appear  at  the  next  term  of  court  to  be 
sworn  in. 

Ordered  that  George  Jackson  has  a  good  and  just  right  to  build 
a  mill  on  his  premises  in  or  adjoining  Clarksburg  on  Elk  river,  so 
that  said  Jackson  doth  not  effect  any  other  person's  land. 

John  Powers,  Benjamin  Coplin  and  Christopher  Carpenter  were 
appointed  surveyors  of  certain  roads  named  to  be  laid  out. 

Ordered  that  the  court  do  meet  at  the  house  of  Hezikiah  Davis¬ 
son  at  Clarksburg  at  the  next  court  day,  and  that  court  adjourned 
until  the  next  court  day. 

Thus  these  sturdy  men,  clad  in  their  rude  dress  of  the  frontier, 
consisting  of  hunting  shirt,  leggings  and  moccasins,  organized  the 
county  and  establishing  a  government  for  the  people  in  the  wilderness, 
and  having  discharged  their  duty  well  and  intelligently,  mounted  their 
horses  and,  with  their  rifles  close  at  hand,  struck  out  by  various  paths 
and  trails  through  the  woods  to  their  cabins  and  unprotected  families. 

The  first  court  house  was  erected  on  the  lot  at  the  intersection  of 
Main  and  Second  streets,  and  the  jail  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  street 
where  the  First  Presbyterian  church  now  stands.  The  court  house 
was  built  high  enough  above  the  ground,  and  was  built  on  pillows  to 
afford  a  place  under  the  same  for  the  hitching  of  horses. 

The  First  Jury  Trial 

The  first  court  trial  in  Harrison  county  was  on  the  seventeenth 
day  of  August,  1784,  between  John  Wolfe  as  plaintiff,  and  Alexander 
Maxwell,  as  defendant.  It  appears  that  three  witnesses  were  exam¬ 
ined  by  the  court  and  judgment  was  rendered  in  favor  of  the  plaintiff 
for  three  pounds  and  costs. 

The  first  jury  trial  for  the  county  was  on  the  eighteenth  day  of 
November,  1784,  in  the  suit  of  Sarah  Currence  against  Barbary  Shaver 
for  a  trespass.  The  jury  was  composed  of  Ebenezer  Petty,  Adam 
O’Brien,  Edmon  Night,  Alexander  Davisson,  Francis  States,  Louis 
Duval,  Thomas  McCann,  Charles  Harris,  Hezikiah  Davisson,  William 
Haymond,  William  Tanner  and  John  Cutright,  who  returned  a  verdict 
for  the  plaintiff  for  six  pence  damages,  which  in  our  money  today  is 
eight  and  one-third  cents. 

The  court  in  the  first  year  of  the  county’s  history  transacted 
many  matters  of  business  of  great  importance  in  that  day,  and  of 
much  interest  to  the  reader  of  the  present  time,  but  space  does  not 
here  permit  even  the  enumeration  of  them. 

Clarksburg 

w^e  man  known  to  have  visited  the  present  site  of 
Clarksburg,  was  John  Simpson,  who  located  his  camp  on  the  West 
Fork  river,  opposite  the  mouth  of  Elk  creek,  in  what  is  now  Stealey 
Heights.  In  1772  other  settlers  began  to  locate  their  land  nearby, 
and  m  1773,  Daniel  Davisson  located  and  took  up  400  acres  on  which 
the  principal  part  of  the  town  is  now  located. 

uT*!?.next  year  found  the  lowing  persons  settled  in  the  neigh- 


HISTORICAL  PAGEANT 


r  f f  PavlsJ?0£’  .Qkadlah  Davisson,  Amaziah  Davisson,  Samuel 

Cottrill,  Andrew  Cottrill  Thomas  Nutter,  John  Nutter,  Matthew  Nut- 

°^a  Hickman  and  Samuel  Beard.  At  a  meeting  of  the  settlers 
held  probably  m  1778,  one  of  the  Shinns  suggested  the  town  be  named 
after  General  George  Rogers  Clark,  who  had  gained  great  fame  in  the 
Indian  wars  and  the  war  of  the  Revolution. 


In  October,  1795,  the  General  Assembly  of  Virginia  passed  an  act 
establishing  the  town  of  Clarksburg  in  the  county  of  Harrison  nam¬ 
ing  William  Haymond,  Nicholas  Carpenter,  John  Myers,  John  Mc- 
Cally  and  John  Davisson,  as  trustees  of  the  town,  and  further  provided 
that  one-half  acre  of  ground,  either  in  one  or  two  separate  parcels 
shall  be  laid  off  by  said  trustees,  and  appropriated  for  erecting  the 
court  house  and  other  public  buildings.  Said  trustees  were  given 
power  to  lay  off  as  many  lots,  streets  and  alleys  as  to  them  seemed 
convenient  for  the  building  of  said  town,  and  that  the  possessors  of 
any  lots  in  said  town  shall  forfeit  the  same,  unless  he  build  one  dwell¬ 
ing  house  of  at  least  16  feet  square,  either  of  stone,  brick,  frame  or 
hewed  logs  with  a  stone  or  brick  chimney  by  the  first  day  of  January, 
1790.  This  time  was  afterwards  extended  for  three  years  by  an  act 
of  the  General  Assembly,  and  later  again  extended  for  five  years. 

When  the  town  was  selected  as  the  county  seat  in  1784,  there 
were  two  rows  of  cabins  extending  from  where  the  court  house  now 
stands  to  the  Jackson  house  east  of  Elk  creek,  the  site  of  which  is 
now  occupied  by  residence  of  Paul  M.  Robinson. 

Clarksburg  was  incorporated  by  an  act  of  the  General  Assembly 
passed  March  15,  1849,  in  which  act  the  boundaries  were  given  and  in 
1870  the  town  authorities  accepted  Chapter  47  of  the  Code  and  was 
governed  under  that  chapter  until  1897,  when  the  town  was  given  a 
special  charter  by  an  act  of  the  legislature.  In  1917,  the  legislature 
gave  the  city  a  new  charter  with  a  commission  form  of  government, 
and  enlarging  the  boundaries  so  as  to  include  the  towns  of  Adamston, 
Broad  Oaks,  Northview  and  Stealey  Heights,  and  in  1921,  the  legisla¬ 
ture  enacted  the  present  charter  or  city  manager  form  of  government. 

In  the  early  days  the  manufacturing  and  business  interest  of 
the  town  was  principally  located  on  what  is  known  now  as  Mechanic 
street,  and  Pike  street  was  known  as  North  Back  street. 


— HARVEY  W.  HARMER 


CLARKSBURG  COMMUNITY  SERVICE 


Progress  of  the  Early  Years 

Modes  of  Travel 


© 


'HE  first  phase  of  road  making  was  the  broadening  of  the  Indian 
trail,  by  the  passing  of  wider  loads  over  it.  (The  Indian,  so  far 
as  is  known,  never  lifted  his  finger  to  make  his  paths  better  in 
any  one  respect.) 


The  beginning  of  the  pack  horse  era  was  announced  by  the  need 
of  greater  quantities  of  merchandise  and  provisions  in  the  West  to 
which  these  paths  led. 


Probably  by  1750  three  routes,  and  only  three,  running  through 
Pennsylvania  and  New  York  were  made  broader  and  deeper.  We  speak 
relatively  when  we  use  the  term  “broader,”  for  it  was  only  sufficiently 
so  to  enable  the  horses  to  meet  and  pass  without  danger  to  their 
loads,  and  the  wider  and  deeper  these  few  roads  became,  the  narrower 
and  softer  the  lesser  trails  became. 


Of  this  pack  saddle  era,  little  has  been  written,  and  it  may  be  well 
to  quote  from  Doddridge’s  notes  a  description  of  it: 

“The  acquisition  of  the  indispensable  articles  of  salt,  iron,  steel 
and  castings  presented  great  difficulties  to  the  first  settlers  of  the 
western  country.  They  had  no  stores  of  any  kind — no  salt,  no  iron, 
and  no  money  to  make  purchases  where  the  articles  could  be  obtained. 
Every  family  collected  what  peltry  and  furs  they  could  obtain  through¬ 
out  the  year,  for  the  purpose  of  sending  them  over  the  mountains  for 
barter.  In  the  fall  of  the  year  after  seeding  time,  every  family  formed 
an  association  with  their  neighbors  for  starting  the  little  caravan. 
The  horses  were  fitted  out  with  pack  saddles,  to  the  latter  part  of 
which  was  fastened  a  pair  of  hobbles  made  of  hickory  withe.  A  bell 
and  collar  ornamented  their  necks.  The  bags  provided  for  the  convey¬ 
ance  of  the  salt  were  filled  with  feed  for  the  horses  on  the  journey, 
and  part  of  this  feed  was  left  at  convenient  stages  on  the  way  down 
to  provide  for  the  return  trip.  Large  wallets  filled  with  bread,  jerk, 
boiled  bacon  and  cheese  were  for  the  refreshment  of  the  drivers.  At 
night,  after  feeding,  the  horses  were  turned  out,  and  the  bells  were 
opened.  Each  horse  carried  back  two  bushels  of  alum  salt,  weighing 
eighty-four  pounds  to  the  bushel. 

“The  caravan  route  from  the  Ohio  river  to  Frederick,  Md.,  cross¬ 
ed  stupendous  ranges  of  mountains,  the  path  scarcely  two  feet  wide, 
and  travelling  by  horses  in  single  file,  over  hill  and  dale,  through  moun¬ 
tain  defile,  over  craggy  steeps,  around  dizzy  heights,  where  one  false 
step  might  hurl  horse  and  rider  into  the  abyss  below.  To  prevent 
such  accidents  the  bulky  baggage  was  removed  in  passing  the  dan¬ 
gerous  places,  to  secure  the  horses  from  being  thrown  from  their 
scanty  foothold.  The  horses  with  their  packs  were  marched  in  single 
file,  the  foremost  led  by  the  leader  of  the  caravan  while  each  successive 
horse  was  tethered  to  the  pack  saddle  of  the  horse  behind  him.  A 
driver  followed  behind  to  keep  his  eye  upon  the  whole. 

“The  pack  horses  used  to  carry  bars  of  iron  on  their  backs, 
crooked  over  and  around  their  bodies — barrels  and  kegs  were  hung 
on  each  side  of  these.” 


Photo  by  Ideal  Studio 


HISTORICAL  PAGEANT 


Wheeled  Vehicles 


First  in  the  van  came  the  great  clumsy  cart,  having  immensely 
high  and  solid  wooden  wheels.  These  were  obtained  by  taking  a  thin 
slice  from  the  butt  of  the  greatest  log  that  could  be  found  in  good  con¬ 
dition,  or  by  being  built  piecemeal  by  rude  carpenters.  These  great 
wheels  would  go  safely  wherever  oxen  could  draw  them,  many  of  their 
hubs  being  three  feet  from  the  ground.  Thus  the  body  of  the  cart 
would  clear  any  ordinary  brook  or  river  at  any  ford  which  horses  or 
oxen  could  cross.  No  rocks  could  severely  injure  such  a  vehicle  and 
no  rut  could  disturb  its  solid  dignity.  These  solid  carts  could  proceed 
nearly  on  the  ancient  bridle  path  of  the  pack  horse  age.  Changes  were 
necessary,  however,  where  marshy  places  were  found,  for  the  carts 
chose  the  lower  ground  and  the  road  was  often  a  veritable  “slough  of 
despond.,,  Every  great  road  had  its  “wet”  and  “dry”  route.  In  one  of 
the  earlier  road  laws  it  was  ordered  that  in  wet  and  miry  places  the 
road  should  be  laid  out  “six  or  ten  rods  in  width,”  though  ordinarily 
ten  to  twelve  feet  was  considered  a  fair  width. 


By  1785  the  great  freight  traffic  by  means  of  wagons  had  fully 
begun  across  the  Alleghenies  at  many  points.  It  is  doubtful  if  any¬ 
where  else  in  the  United  States  wagoners  did  such  a  thriving  business 
as  on  the  three  or  four  trans- Allegheny  routes  between  the  year  1785 
and  1850,  and  another  change  was  necessary  in  the  construction  of  the 
roads.  The  wagons  and  carts  could  not  climb  the  heights  possible  for 
the  pack  horse.  The  lower  grounds  were  therefore  chosen,  and  the 
wet  regions  were  made  passable  by  corduroying — laying  logs  closely 
together  to  form  a  solid  roadbed.  Those  in  charge  of  the  wagons  of 
course  were  most  interested  in  keeping  the  roads  passable,  and  when 
bad  spots  were  found,  they  either  skirted  them  or  “corduroyed.  After 
the  passage  of  one  wagon,  the  rains  would  probably  obliterate  nis 
effort  at  road  repair,  and  the  next  victim  would  push  his  unwilling 
horses  into  an  “unfathomed  sea.”  In  many  cases  the  bottom  just 
“fell  out”  and  many  a  driver  lost  his  load  in  the  “bottomless  pit.  Since 
the  advent  of  the  wagon  was  very  obnoxious  to  the  pack  horse  nien, 
these  difficulties  were  only  the  just  reward  of  their  interference  with 

the  trade  of  honest  men ! 


A  description  of  the  old  road  freighter  is  interesting.  Its  bed 
was  long  and  deep,  bending  upward  at  the  bottom  at  either  end.  I  he 
lower  broad  side  was  painted  blue,  with  a  movable  board  inserted 
above  painted  red.  The  top  covering  was  white  canvass  and  drawn 
over  wooden  bows.  Many  of  the  wagoners  hung  bells  on  a  thin  iron 
arch  over  the  hames  of  the  harness.  The  wheels  of  the  freighter 
were  of  a  size  to  the  rest  of  the  wagon.  The  first  wagons  used  on  the 
old  roads  had  narrow  rims,  but  it  was  not  long  before  the  broad  rims 
came  into  use  by  those  who  made  a  business  of  freighting.  I  he  nar 
row  rims  were  always  used  by  farmers.  Tolls  were  less  for  broad 
wheels  than  for  narrow  ones,  because  of  the  lesswearon  theroadbed. 
(One  ingenious  inventor  planned  a  wagon  which  would  Pass  the  toll 
gates  free.  It  had  the  rear  axle  four  inches  shorter  than  the  tront, 

making  a  track  eight  inches  in  width.)  Nine  horses  were  hitched  to 
this  wagon,  three  abreast. 


CLARKSBURG  COMMUNITY  SERVICE 


The  day  of  the  freighter  and  the  corduroy  road  was  a  brighter 
one  for  the  expanding  nation  than  that  of  the  pack  horse,  and  the 
advent  of  the  stage  coach  was  as  much  in  advance  of  both  as  the  steam 
boat  was  in  advance  of  the  barge  in  river  traffic. 

The  social  disturbance  caused  by  the  introduction  of  coaches  on 
the  pioneer  roads  gives  us  a  glimpse  of  road  conditions  to  be  gained 
in  no  other  way. 

Many  historians  give  incidents  showing  the  anger  of  the  more 
important  pack  horse  lines  across  the  continent,  at  the  coming  of  the 
stage.  Coaches  were  overturned  and  passengers  maltreated,  horses 
were  chastized  and  personal  property  ruined,  and  there  was  no  lack 
of  debate  on  the  question  of  whether  the  stage  coach  was  a  sign  of 
advancement  or  deterioration. 

Mails  could  not  be  carried  so  rapidly  by  coach  as  by  a  horseman, 
and  when  messages  of  importance  were  sent,  they  were  always  sent 
by  an  express  rider. 

The  advent  of  the  wagon  and  coach  promised  to  throw  hundreds 
of  men  out  of  employment.  Business  was  improved,  but  fewer  hands 
were  necessary. 

Again,  the  horses  which  formerly  carried  the  freight  of  America 
on  their  backs,  were  not  strong  enough  to  draw  heavy  loads  on  either 
wagon  or  coach.  They  were  ponies — they  could  carry  a  few  score 
pounds  with  great  skill  over  blind  paths,  but  they  could  not  draw 
heavy  wagons.  So,  hundreds  of  pack  horse  owners  saw  alarming  de¬ 
preciation  of  their  property  when  great,  fine  coach  horses  were  shipped 
in  to  carry  freight  and  passenger  loads.  So  it  has  ever  been — conser¬ 
vatism  dreading  the  advent  of  progress! 

The  stage  coach  era  heralded  the  age  of  advanced  road  building, 
but  these  macadamized  roads  were  few  and  far  between.  Many  road¬ 
ways  were  widened  and  graded,  but  they  remained  dirt  roads,  and  a 
few  plank  roads  were  built.  Hosts  of  road  and  turnpike  companies 
sprang  up  in  the  first  half  of  the  nineteenth  century. 

When  Washington  crossed  the  North  Branch  of  the  Potomac  on 
the  twenty-sixth  day  of  October,  1784,  at  McCulloch’s  crossing,  he 
was  on  the  track  of  what  should  be,  a  generation  later,  the  Virginia 
highway  across  the  Appalachian  system  to  the  Ohio  basin.  All  told, 
Virginia  had  accomplished  more  in  the  way  of  road  building  into  the 
old  central  West  than  all  the  other  colonies  combined,  but  not  one  inch 
of  either  of  these  great  thoroughfares  lay  through  Virginia  territory 
when  independence  was  secured  and  the  individual  states  began  their 
struggle  for  existence.  It  was  Washington’s  dream,  but  he  died  with¬ 
out  its  fulfillment. 


The  Northwestern  Turnpike 

However,  the  beginning  of  the  Baltimore  and  Ohio  railroad,  in 
1825,  stirred  Virginia  to  action,  and  on  the  twenty-seventh  of  Febru¬ 
ary,  1827,  the  General  Assembly  passed  an  act  to  incorporate  the 
“Northwestern  Road  Company.” 

A  mistake  which  doomed  this  plan  to  failure  was  the  arbitrarily 
outlining  a  road  by  way  of  certain  towns  without  due  consideration  of 


HISTORICAL  PAGEANT 


the  nature  of  the  country  between  them.  When  the  engineers  got 
through  Hampshire  county  by  way  of  Mill  Creek  Gap,  in  Mill  Creek 
mountain,  and  on  into  Preston  county,  insurmountable  obstacles  were 

encountered,  and  it  was  reported  that  the  road  would  never  reach 
Kmgwood. 


that  moment  the  road  languished,  and  only  the  intervention 
ot  the  state  saved  it.  In  1831  a  new  act  was  passed  by  the  Virginia 
Assembly,  unique  in  character  for  its  provisions.  This  was  an  act  to 
provide  for  the  construction  of  a  turnpike  road  from  Winchester  to 
some  point  on  the  Ohio  river.”  The  governor  was  made  president  of 
the  company,  and  he,  with  the  treasurer,  attorney  general  and  second 
auditor,  were  constituted  a  board  of  directors. 

The  roadway  was  soon  built,  and  not  being  dependent  upon  the 
stock  that  might  be  collected  in  the  larger  towns,  the  road  made  peace 
with  the  mountains,  and  was  built  through  the  southern  part  of  Pres¬ 
ton  county,  leaving  Kingwood  some  miles  to  the  north.  At  each 
stretch  of  twenty  miles,  toll  gates  were  to  be  erected,  where  the  usual 
tolls  were  to  be  collected  and  the  sum  so  raised  to  be  paid  into  the 
State  Board  of  Public  Works,  and  the  road  to  be  a  public  highway 
forever. 


In  an  old  letter,  dated  September  13,  1835,  written  to  a  minister 
in  Philadelphia  from  the  Presbyterian  church  in  Clarksburg,  we  find 
the  following: 

“We  have  a  few  days  since  received  a  letter  from  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Fairchild,  who  resides  at  Smithfield,  Fayette  county,  Penn.,  in  which 
he  states  that  on  the  Monday  before  the  third  Sabbath  of  November 
next,  himself  and  the  Rev.  Mr.  Stonerode,  of  Uniontown,  Penn.,  will 
be  at  this  place  to  hold  a  four  days'  meeting  and  administer  the  sacra¬ 
ment.  It  would  give  us  much  pleasure  if  you  could  be  here  also.  If 
you  were  to  leave  Philadelphia  on  the  receipt  of  this  letter  and  travel 
by  the  stage,  you  might  be  at  this  place  within  three  weeks  of  this 
time.  Your  route  would  be  to  Baltimore,  to  Frederick,  Hagerstown, 
Hancock,  Cumberland,  Uniontown,  Smithfield,  Morgantown,  and  then 
to  Clarksburg.” 

This  gives  a  fair  idea  of  the  time  it  took  to  make  the  journey,  as 
well  as  the  fortitude  of  these  early  ministers.  A  three  weeks'  trip,  by 
stage,  to  attend  a  four  days'  meeting,  in  a  small  village  of  “from  600  to 
700  inhabitants”  in  a  county  of  15,000!! 

In  the  days  when  the  Northwestern  Turnpike  was  created  by  leg¬ 
islative  enactment,  railways  were  only  being  dreamed  of,  and  the 
promoters  of  railways  were  considered  insane  when  they  hinted  that 
the  mountains  could  be  conquered  by  the  steam  engine. 

But  the  Northwestern  Turnpike  was  the  last  roadway  built  from 
the  seaboard  to  the  West  in  the  hope  of  securing  commercial  suprem¬ 
acy,  and  its  decline  and  decay  marks  the  end  of  pioneer  road  building 
across  the  first  great  American  divide.  Being  started  so  late  in  the 
century,  the  Baltimore  and  Ohio  railroad,  which  was  completed  to 
Cumberland  in  1845,  stopped  in  a  large  part  the  busy  scenes  of  the 
Northwestern  Turnpike. 

The  Baltimore  and  Ohio  depot  was  established  at  Clarksburg  in 
1856  at  the  East  and  continued  there  for  forty  years,  and  removed 


CLARKSBURG  COMMUNITY  SERVICE 


to  its  present  location  in  1898.  It  does  not  take  a  great  stretch  of 
memory  to  recall  the  old  “bus”  driven  by  Edward  Nuzum,  which  called 
for  passengers  to  the  depot,  at  any  time  in  either  day  or  night,  and  the 
sight  of  the  light  of  this  old  vehicle  as  it  came  down  the  “pike”  was  a 
sign  that  the  “train  was  in”  and  “all’s  well !” 

Development  of  Salt  Works 

No  great  production  of  salt  was  undertaken  in  Harrison  county, 
though  it  was  manufactured  in  small  quantities  in  almost  every  county 
in  the  state.  The  first  salt  well  in  West  Virginia  was  drilled  by  Joseph 
and  David  Ruffner  in  1808  on  the  bank  of  the  Kanawha  river  at 
Charleston.  Before  that  time  sale  had  been  made  there  from  water 
collected  in  shallow  holes.  As  early  as  1753,  and  no  doubt  earlier,  the 
Indians  manufactured  salt  on  the  banks  of  this  river.  They  boiled  the 
water  by  collecting  it  in  troughs  and  dropping  hot  rocks  in  it. 

When  white  people  first  began  to  make  salt  at  that  place  they 
used  iron  kettles  in  which  to  boil  it,  and  in  consequence,  the  iron  and 
other  chemicals  which  it  contained,  gave  the  salt  a  red  color.  It  was 
good  salt,  and  the  belief  was  that  red  salt  was  the  best,  and  buyers 
often  asked  for  it  and  bought  it  in  preference  to  the  purified  article. 
The  salt  manufactures  became  the  largest  in  the  country.  It  was 
first  sold  at  ten  cents  per  pound,  but  in  1808  the  price  was  reduced  to 
four  cents.  The  furnaces  were  fed  with  wood  during  the  earlier  years, 
and  then  coal  was  discovered  and  made  use  of.  It  was  for  the  salt  wells 
themselves  to  discover  their  best  fuel,  and  to  be  the  real  discoverers 
of  the  greatest  fuel  yet  found  in  West  Virginia. 

The  first  gas  well  discovered,  to  which  any  practical  use  was  made, 
was  bored  by  salt  makers  on  the  banks  of  the  Kanawha  in  1845.  The 
borers  sought  salt — but  found  gas,  and  used  the  fuel  thus  found  to 
boil  the  brine.  The  first  use  of  natural  gas  in  the  United  States  was  in 
West  Virginia. 

John  Haymond  and  Benjamin  Wilson  commenced  the  manufacture 
of  salt  in  Braxton  county  in  1809,  but  discontinued  it  in  1823,  when  it 
became  cheaper  to  buy  it  than  to  make  it.  A  great  quantity  was  made 
during  the  war  with  Great  Britain. 

The  First  Church 

The  Rev.  James  Sutton,  a  Baptist  minister,  came  to  Bridgeport 
about  1774,  and  organized  the  Simpson  Creek  Baptist  church,  with 
five  members,  and  this  organization  has  continued  with  an  unbroken 
history  to  the  present  day,  and  is  probably  the  oldest  church  within 
the  state,  west  of  the  Allegheny  mountains.  This  church  grew,  and 
in  June,  1784,  it  was  determined  two  meeting  houses  should  be  built, 
one  at  Bridgeport,  the  other  on  Elk  Creek,  (the  present  Hopewell 
church.) 

From  its  organization,  this  church  belonged  to  the  Ketocton  As¬ 
sociation,  until  1802,  when  Union  Association,  (with  this  and  eight 
other  churches),  was  organized,  and  this  church  has  remained  a  mem¬ 
ber  of  Union  Association  for  more  than  one  hundred  and  twenty  years. 

This  church  is  now  occupying  the  fourth  church  building,  and 
has  had  twenty-six  pastors.  From  its  membership  six  other  churches 


CLARKSBURG  COMMUNITY  SERVICE 


theVegobspeeni.0rganiZed  and  deVen  men  HcenSed  and  ordained  t0  P^ach 

.^l10  baptists  were  the  first  to  organize  and  build  a  church  in 
Clarksburg.  About  the  same  year  the  town  took  its  name,  the  Meth¬ 
odists  organized  a  church,  and  this  organization  has  continued  and  is 
now  known  as  The  First  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  of  Clarksburg. 

Stonewall  Jackson 

In  writing  of  these  early  days,  we  must  give  especial  mention  to 
the  greatest  of  Clarksburg’s  sons— General  Thomas  Jonathan  Jackson 
—  Stonewall  Jackson,”  as  he  is  familiarly  known. 

•  T  i  1  •  v  «  ^  was  a  son  of  John  Jackson  and 

Elizabeth  Cummings  Jackson,  whose  names  were  among  that  heroic 
group  that  blazed  the  way  for  those  of  us  who  come  after,  in  the  dan¬ 
gerous  and  trying  days  of  the  Indian  wars.  John  Jackson  and  his  sons 
bore  arms  in  the  War  of  Independence. 

Jonathan  Jackson  and  his  wife,  Julia  Beckwith  Neale,  began 
housekeeping  in  a  brick  cottage  of  three  rooms,  in  the  village  of 
Clarksburg.  It  was  in  this  modest  cottage  that  Thomas  J.  Jackson, 
one  of  the  greatest  military  geniuses  the  world  ever  saw,  was  born  on 
January  21,  1824.  When  his  father  died  three  years  later,  every  ves¬ 
tige  of  his  property  was  swept  away,  and  the  young  widow,  left  with 
three  small  children,  two  sons  and  a  daughter,  became  dependent  on 
the  assistance  of  her  relatives  for  a  livelihood. 

When  Thomas  was  six  years  old,  his  mother  re-married  a  Captain 
Woodson,  but  she  died  within  a  year,  leaving  the  boy  a  penniless  or¬ 
phan.  To  the  latest  hours  of  his  life  he  loved  to  recall  her  memory, 
and  her  influence  always  remained.  After  her  death  the  children  found 
a  home  with  their  father's  brother,  Cummings  Jackson,  who  owned  a 
farm  in  Lewis  county.  Life  on  the  farm  was  a  difficult  one,  and  edu¬ 
cation  was  hard  to  obtain,  but  the  boy's  ambition  was  intense  to  secure 
an  education  and  “prove  himself  worthy  of  his  forefathers." 

Before  he  was  nineteen  his  hopes  were  unexpectedly  realized. 
The  Military  Academy  at  West  Point  not  only  provided  a  sound  and 
liberal  education,  but  offered  an  opening  to  an  honorable  career.  In 
1842  a  vacancy  occurred  which  was  to  be  filled  by  a  youth  from  the 
district  in  which  Clarksburg  was  situated,  and  Jackson  resolved  to 
secure  the  appointment.  Many  objected  saying  that  he  had  not  suffi¬ 
cient  education  to  even  enter  the  Academy,  but  he  replied  that  he  had 
the  necessary  application,  and  he  hoped  that  he  had  the  capacity,  and 
he  was  resolved  to  try.  Mr.  Hayes,  the  congressman  from  the  district, 
was  so  impressed  by  the  courage  and  earnestness  of  the  young  appli¬ 
cant  that  he  promised  to  do  all  in  his  power  for  him. 

Not  waiting  for  further  word,  young  Jackson  determined  to  go  at 
once  to  Washington  in  order  that  he  might  be  ready  to  proceed  to 
West  Point  without  a  moment's  delay.  Packing  a  few  clothes  in  a  pair 
of  saddle  bags,  he  mounted  his  horse  and  rode  off  to  catch  the  coach 
at  Clarksburg.  It  had  already  passed,  but  galloping  on,  he  overtook  it 
at  Bridgeport,  and  arrived  in  due  time  at  Washington.  Mr.  Hayes  at 
once  introduced  him  to  the  secretary  of  war,  and  begged  indulgence 
for  him,  on  account  of  his  pluck  and  determination.  So  good  was  the 
impression  that  he  then  and  there  received  the  appointment. 


CLARKSBURG  COMMUNITY  SERVICE 


Lord  Roberts,  commander-in-chief  of  the  British  army,  said :  “In 
my  opinion  Stonewall  Jackson  was  one  of  the  greatest  natural  military 
geniuses  the  world  ever  saw.  I  will  go  even  further  than  that — as  a 
campaigner  in  the  field  he  never  had  a  superior.  In  some  respects  I 
doubt  if  he  ever  had  an  equal.” 

Although  General  Jackson’s  residence  in  Clarksburg  was  limited 
to  his  early  childhood,  he  was  ever  deeply  attached  to  the  town  of  his 
nativity — was  always  interested  in,  and  in  touch  with  its  citizens,  and 
the  happenings  there.  He  always  counted  among  his  warmest  friends 
so  many  of  Clarksburg’s  distinguished  citizens  that  it  would  be  a  task 
to  enumerate  them.  Jackson’s  high  character  as  a  man,  his  sincerity, 
his  honesty,  and  unswerving  truthfulness,  entire  freedom  from  the 
slightest  trace  of  evasion  in  any  form,  his  utter  detestation  of  hypoc- 
racy,  his  absolute  devotion  to  his  friends,  his  unflinching  sense  of 
justice  toward  an  enemy,  are  among  the  traits  for  which  his  home 
people  may  well  hold  him  in  admiration.  While  the  world  honors  him 
as  a  soldier,  the  great  pride  of  his  own  people  is  in  the  sending  forth 
from  their  midst  one  who  developed  into  such  a  lofty  character. 

At  the  age  of  26,  Jackson  wrote,  “Rather  than  violate  the  known 
will  of  God,  I  would  forfeit  my  life — such  a  resolution  I  have  taken, 
and  will  abide  by  it,  and  mean  to  live  by  it.” 

If  General  Jackson  were  living,  he  would  regard  as  his  greatest 
achievement  the  number  of  souls  that  had  been  led  to  the  Master 
through  his  instrumentality  in  the  example  which  his  soldiers  had 
daily  before  them,  of  a  considerate,  kindly  commander,  living  a  spot¬ 
less  life  among  them,  placing  his  whole  trust  in  his  Creator,  leading 
them  from  victory  to  victory,  he  so  endeared  himself  to  them,  that  they 
hungered  for  some  of  that  same  kind  of  religion — they  sought  after  it, 
and  got  it,  and  became  invincible.  They  carried  that  same  brand  of 
religion  into  their  homes ;  their  kindred  became  imbued  with  it ;  their 
descendants  inherited  it;  and  thus  the  influence  of  the  quiet,  godly 
man  is  still  at  work,  bearing  fruit  today. 

He  loved  God  first,  next  his  fellowman.  He  was  as  modest  as  a 
woman,  and  could  be  as  gentle  as  a  little  child.  His  life  was  a  lesson 
to  the  student,  and  an  example  for  all  mankind — an  enigma  alone  to 
the  heedless  and  thoughtless. 

The  fame  of  Stonewall  Jackson  is  no  longer  the  exclusive  property 
of  Virginia  and  the  South ;  it  has  become  the  birthright  of  every  man 
privileged  to  call  himself  American. 

—MISS  EMMA  K.  DAVIS 


Lumbering 

On  the  advent  of  the  first  white  people  into  Northwestern  Vir¬ 
ginia,  the  greater  portion  of  which  lies  in  the  former  confines  of  Harri¬ 
son  county,  nearly  the  whole  land  area  was  covered  with  primeval  for¬ 
ests  of  large  trees,  with  the  exception  of  here  and  there  a  small  plot 
of  land,  which  in  some  manner  had  been  denuded  of  its  trees,  and 
which  were  called  by  the  early  settlers  “Old  Fields.”  These  old  fields 
may  have  been  caused  by  fires,  originating  from  camp  fires,  burning 
or  killing  the  timber  and  ere  that  portion  of  the  land  could  again  grow 
its  trees  it  probably  was  seized  upon  by  the  Indians  or  other  aborigines 


HISTORICAL  PAGEANT 


and  planted  with  Indian  corn  or  other  crops,  and  in  that  manner  pre¬ 
vented  from  reforestation. 


On  the  cold  mountain  ridges  and  plateaus,  in  the  deep  river  gorges, 
and  along  the  banks  of  the  cool  mountain  streams  were  the  cone¬ 
bearing  trees— the  hemlock,  the  pines,  the  balsam  fir  and  the  red 
spruce.  With  these,  and  covering  thousands  of  acres  of  cove  and 
hill  and  river  bottoms,  were  the  giant  oaks,  hickories  and  maples,  and 
the  famous  yellow  poplar,  black  walnut  and  wild  cherry,  intermingled 
with  numerous  other  broad  leaf  trees,  sought  in  after  years  for  their 
valuable  lumber  and  fruits.  These  trees  had  grown  and  flourished  and 
reached  maturity,  like  thousands  of  their  ancestors,  undisturbed  and 
unused  except  by  the  savage  races  and  the  wild  animals  that  then 
lived  in  this  otherwise  uninhabited  region. 

When  our  forefathers  came  into  this  wilderness  country  and  set 
themselves  to  the  task  of  building  homes  and  clearing  the  lands  for 
their  crops  of  vegetables  and  grain,  they  found  the  forest  a  great 
detriment  if  not  almost  a  menace  to  their  welfare,  yet  this  same  forest 
proved  a  storehouse  for  many  of  the  necessities  of  life. 

While  some  of  the  trees  had  to  be  felled  and  burned  to  get  them 
out  of  the  way,  many  others  were  used  to  build  their  cabins  and  other 
out-buildings,  yet  the  earliest  method  of  getting  ground  for  growing 
crops  was  to  girdle  the  trees  with  fire,  which  killed  them  but  left  their 
giant  skeletons  standing,  through  which  the  sun  was  enabled  to  shine 
and  grow  and  ripen  the  vegetables  and  crops  required  for  the  suste¬ 
nance  of  the  settler  and  his  family.  In  this  manner  many  millions  of 
feet  of  timber  of  the  finest  grade  was  entirely  destroyed,  while  many, 
many  trees  were  felled  with  the  ax  and  rolled  together  and  burned  to 
get  rid  of  them  entirely.  However,  this  timber  afforded  indispensible 
material  for  the  construction  of  dwellings  and  the  manufacture  of 
rude  implements  and  tools.  Thus  it  was  that  the  products  of  the 
forest  first  came  to  be  utilized  and  forest  industries  were  begun  with 
the  earliest  settlements. 


The  story  of  the  gradual  but  marvelous  development  of  the  vari¬ 
ous  industries  directly  dependent  upon  the  products  of  the  forest  can 
be  traced  through  years  in  which  farms  have  grown  wide  from  the 
first  small  openings  and  towns  and  cities  have  sprung  up  throughout 
the  county. 


The  remarkable  evolution  of  the  devices  for  the  manufacture  of 
lumber  is  one  of  the  best  measures  of  the  development  of  forest  and 
timber  industries.  The  adz,  broad  axe  and  frow,  with  which  the  pun¬ 
cheons  and  boards  were  shaped  for  the  first  log  houses,  were  the  fore¬ 
runners  of  the  whip  saw  and  the  old-fashioned  water  saw  mill.  I  he 
rude  hand  device  known  as  a  whip  saw  was  carried  easily  with  other 
belongings  of  the  pioneers  and  was  used  principally  in  the  eail>  days 
before  heavy  machinery  could  be  brought  in.  The  contrivance  is  thus 
described  by  KercheveFs  History  of  the  Valley  of  Virginia. 

“The  whip  saw  was  about  the  length  of  the  common  mill  saw 
(referring  to  the  saw  used  in  water  mills)  with  a  handle  at  each  end 
and  transversely  fixed  to  it.  The  timber  intended  to  be  sawed  was 
first  squared  with  a  broad  axe,  and  then  raised  on  a  scaffold  six  or 
seven  feet  high.  The  able-bodied  men  then  took  hold  of  the  saw,  one 


HISTORICAL  PAGEANT 


standing  on  top  of  the  log  and  the  other  under  it.”  The  author  of  this 
history  adds  further  on,  “The  labor  was  excessively  fatiguing,  and 
about  one  hundred  feet  of  plank  or  scantling  was  considered  a  good 
day's  work  for  two  hands.”  In  fact,  this  saw  was  very  much  like  the 
hand  cross-cut  saw  of  our  present  day. 

Whip  sawing  early  gave  place,  in  many  sections,  to  the  manufac¬ 
ture  of  lumber  on  water-power  saw  mills.  Two  types  of  mills  belong¬ 
ing  to  this  class  were  in  existence — the  sash  saw  mill  and  the  muley 
saw,  the  latter  introduced  later  was  less  cumbersome  and  capable  of 
more  rapid  work. 

The  first  saw  mill  built  west  of  the  Allegheny  mountains  was  built 
by  John  Minear  near  the  town  of  St.  George,  in  Tucker  county,  in 
1776.  This  mill  was  in  the  original  confines  of  Harrison  county.  It  is 
not  definitely  known  when  or  where  the  first  saw  mill  was  built  in  the 
present  confines  of  Harrison  county. 

The  next  step  in  the  evolution  of  sawing  devices  was  the  introduc¬ 
tion  of  steam-propelled  rotary  saw  mills  that  were  capable  of  being 
hauled  from  place  to  place.  Later  on  the  great  band  saws  were  intro¬ 
duced,  but  so  far  as  the  writer  knows  none  of  them  was  ever  in 
operation  in  Harrison  county. 

During  the  years  when  the  more  primitive  types  of  saw  mills  were 
running,  the  lists  of  these  industries  includes  the  making  and  taking 
down  the  West  Fork  river  flat  boats,  which  boats  were  made  at  many 
points  along  the  West  Fork  river  in  Harrison  county  and  were  loaded 
with  produce  and  articles  of  trade  and  floated  down  the  river  to  Pitts¬ 
burgh,  and  from  there  many  of  them  continued  on  down  the  Ohio  river 
and  even  down  the  Mississippi  river  to  New  Orleans.  Rafting  logs  and 
running  them  to  Pittsburgh  was  another  and  probably  one  of  the  lar¬ 
gest  of  the  timber  industries  in  Harrison  county.  After  the  timber 
accessible  from  the  river  was  cut,  then  large  amounts  of  logs  were  cut 
along  the  smaller  streams  and  floated  down  to  the  river  during  the 
spring  freshets  and  there  rafted  into  large  rafts  and  run  to  Pittsburgh 
and  there  disposed  of.  All  told,  thousands  of  such  rafts  were  trans¬ 
ported  by  the  flood  waters  of  the  West  Fork  in  the  spring  time  to  a 
ready  market.  Many  thousands  of  the  finest  logs  were  cut  in  extra 
long  lengths,  hewn  on  four  sides  and  rafted  and  floated  to  market, 
and  sold  for  steam  or  ship  timber,  of  which  none  of  higher  quality 
grew  than  in  Harrison  county.  The  last  raft  of  timber  known  to 
have  been  floated  down  the  West  Fork  river  was  in  the  spring  of  1898 
and  was  run  by  Melville  B.  Bartlett,  who  formerly  lived  near  the 
mouth  of  Robinson's  run. 

Other  branches  of  the  timber  industry  were  the  making  of  staves, 
the  hoop-pole  industry,  tan  bark,  shingles,  cross  ties  for  railroads, 
mine  props  for  coal  mines  and  telephone  and  telegraph  poles. 

So  that  the  timber  and  lumber  industries — beginning  in  a  small 
way  with  the  earliest  settlements  of  the  county,  and  increasing  to 
their  maximum  production— have  meant  as  much  in  the  way  of  ben¬ 
efits  to  the  citizens  of  Harrison  county  as  any  other  industry  carried 
on  within  its  borders. 


W.  GUY  TETRICK 


THE  FIRST  WHITE  SETTLERS 


CLARKSBURG  COMMUNITY  SERVICE 


The  Creators  of  a  State 

1861-1863 

QROTECTED  by  nature  from  being  overrun  by  a  mighty  flood  of 
colonists  the  country  on  the  western  slope  of  the  Alleghanies 
was  won  by  sturdy,  strong  hearted  pioneers,  leaders  in  thought 
as  well  as  m  strength— ’twas  from  the  blood  of  these  that  the  Creators 
of  our  state  came.  On  these  mountainous  slopes  no  cotton  nor  tobacco 
could  be  grown  profitably  so  there  was  little  need  for  slaves,  and  the 
very  fight  for  existence  that  these  forefathers  of  ours  had  made  them 
appreciate  freedom,  independence  and  equality.  For  years  the  social, 
political  and  economic  differences  had  been  forcing  the  western  part 
of  Virginia  away  from  the  eastern  part  and  when  the  Ordinance  of 
Secession  was  passed  and  Virginia  seceded  from  the  Union,  the  leaders 
of  the  West  could  not  and  did  not  agree. 

A  mass  meeting  was  held  at  Clarksburg  with  many  people  from 
all  over  this  part  of  the  country  excitedly  denouncing  the  Ordinance 
of  Secession  and  declaring  themselves  for  the  Union.  John  S.  Carlile, 
later  a  delegate  to  the  Richmond  Convention,  was  the  moving  spirit. 
A  preamble  was  adopted  which  recited  the  occurrences  to  the  present 
time,  and  a  resolution  provided  for  the  bold  step  of  a  general  conven¬ 
tion  of  “five  delegates  of  the  wisest,  best  and  discreetest  men”  from 
each  county  to  meet  in  Wheeling  on  May  13th,  1861,  “to  consider  and 
determine  upon  such  action  as  the  people  of  northwestern  Virginia 
should  take  in  the  present  fearful  emergency.” 

The  eleven  delegates  from  Harrison  county  were  John  S.  Carlile, 
Thomas  L.  Moore,  John  J.  Davis,  Solomon  S.  Fleming,  Felix  S.  Sturm, 
James  Lynch,  William  E.  Lyon,  Lot  Bowen,  Dr.  Duncan,  Waldo  P. 
Goff  and  B.  F.  Shuttleworth.  A  few  delegates  from  nearby  counties 
were  W.  H.  Williams,  C.  P.  Rohrbaugh,  Upshur  county;  F.  M.  Chal- 
fant,  A.  S.  Withers,  J.  W.  Hudson,  P.  M.  Hale,  J.  Woofter,  W.  L. 
Grant,  J.  A.  J.  Lightburn,  Lewis  county;  W.  G.  Willis,  Col.  Lee  Roy 
Kramer,  Waitman  T.  Willey,  Monongalia  county;  Alfred  Caldwell,  An¬ 
drew  Wilson,  Colonel  James  S.  Wheat,  Ohio  county;  John  J.  Jackson, 
Wood  county,  a  distant  relative  of  Andrew  Jackson. 

Twenty-six  counties  responded  to  this  call  by  sending  as  their 
representatives  men  whose  names  have  gone  down  in  history  on  the 
Roll  of  Fame.  Delegates  marched  with  banners  displayed,  on  which 
was  inscribed,  “New  Virginia,  Now  or  Never.” 

Carlile  was  determined  to  adopt  a  Constitution  at  once  and  form  a 
government  for  the  counties  represented.  Two  days  were  spent  in 
fierce  debates,  reason  finally  prevailed  and  to  the  honor  of  the  future 
state  plans  were  laid  for  another  convention  and  the  committee  on 
state  and  federal  relations  brought  in  a  report  which  was  a  master¬ 
piece  of  diplomacy. 

The  second  convention— the  Constitutional  Convention— met  at 
Wheeling  November  26,  1861,  and  adopted  the  following: 

“Resolved,  That  in  view  of  the  geographical,  social  and  commer¬ 
cial  and  industrial  interests  of  Northwestern  Virginia,  this  convention 


CLARKSBURG  COMMUNITY  SERVICE 


is  constrained  in  giving  expression  to  the  opinion  of  their  constituents 
to  declare  that  the  Virginia  Convention  in  assuming  to  change  the 
relations  of  the  State  of  Virginia  to  the  federal  government  have  not 
only  acted  unwisely  and  unconstitutionally  but  have  adopted  a  policy 
utterly  ruinous  to  all  the  material  interests  of  our  section,  severing  all 
our  social  ties  and  drying  up  all  the  channels  of  our  trade  and  pros¬ 
perity.” 

The  Constitution  was  finally  ratified  and  submitted  to  a  vote  of 
the  people  April  3,  1862.  It  received  18,862  votes  for  ratification  to 
514  for  rejection.  The  Virginia  legislature  later  passed  an  act  giving 
the  consent  of  that  state  to  the  formation  and  erection  of  West  Vir¬ 
ginia,  in  accordance  with  the  requirements  of  the  federal  government. 
The  State  of  West  Virginia  was  formally  approved  by  President  Lin¬ 
coln  and  the  legislature  New  Year's  day,  1863,  and  became  the  thirty- 
fifth  state  in  the  Union  on  the  twentieth  day  of  June,  1863. 

—JOHN  C.  JOHNSON 


HISTORICAL  PAGEANT 


The  Torches  of  Education,  of  Agriculture 

and  of  Industry 

1864-1900 


'HE  earlier  settlers  of  Harrison  county  seemingly  appreciated  the 
importance  of  educational  advancement  and  what  it  would  mean 
toward  advancing  civilization  and  good  citizenship  among  its 
people  in  this  section  of  the  state. 


This  county  ranked  high  in  educational  pursuits  shortly  after  it 
was  former  by  the  Virginia  Assembly  in  1784.  It,  however,  at  that 
time  extended  over  a  vast  territory,  reaching  from  the  Maryland  line 
to  the  Ohio  river,  with  a  front  of  sixty  miles  on  that  stream,  and  in¬ 
cluding  the  upper  waters  of  that  Monongahela  river,  all  of  the  Little 
Kanawha  and  portions  of  the  waters  of  the  Big  Kanawha. 

The  Randolph  Academy  was  chartered  by  an  act  of  the  General 
Assembly  of  Virginia,  passed  December  31,  1787,  and  provided  that 
the  first  meeting  of  the  trustees  should  be  held  on  the  second  Monday 
in  May,  1788,  at  Morgantown,  and  “Fix  upon  some  healthy  and  con¬ 
venient  place  within  one  of  the  counties  of  Ohio,  Marion,  Harrison 
and  Randolph  for  the  purpose  of  erecting  therein  the  necessary  build¬ 
ings  for  the  said  academy.” 


In  the  year  1793,  these  trustees  selected  a  site  for  this  instiution 
in  Clarksburg,  Virginia,  near  where  the  Junior  High  School  building 
now  stands,  and  just  east  of  the  Towers  school  building.  The  building 
was  erected  and  the  school  started  in  this  same  year.  The  trustees 
employed  Rev.  George  Towers,  who  was  graduated  at  Oxford,  Eng¬ 
land,  as  its  first  principal,  at  a  salary  of  $250.00  per  annum.  On 
November  12,  1789,  the  trustees  of  this  institution  were  authorized 
by  the  legislature  of  the  state  of  Virginia  to  raise  a  sum  of  money  by 
lottery  for  use  of  the  academy,  not  to  exceed  $1,000.00. 

The  North  Western  Virginia  Academy  was  incorporated  March 
26,  1842,  as  successor  of  Randolph  Academy,  with  the  following  trus¬ 
tees:  Edwin  S.  Duncan,  John  J.  Allen,  Samuel  L.  Hayes,  William  A. 
Harrison,  Waldo  P.  Goff,  Charles  Lewis,  George  Pritchard,  John  W. 
Coffman,  Augustine  J.  Smith,  Richard  W.  Moore,  Walter  Ebert,  Na¬ 
than  Goff,  Dr.  David  Davisson,  Gideon  D.  Camden,  John  Stealey,  John 
Talbott,  Solomon  Parsons,  Joshua  Smith,  Adam  Carper  and  John  J. 
Swayze.  The  academy  building  was  erected  a  short  distance  west  of 
the  Randolph  building,  or  on  the  present  location  of  what  is  known  as 
the  Towers  building,  and  was  completed  and  opened  for  the  admission 
of  pupils  October,  1843,  with  Rev.  Gordon  Battelle  as  principal.  In 
1866,  the  building  was  occupied  by  the  graded  schools,  which  have 
since  continued. 

The  Broaddus  Female  College,  of  Winchester,  Virginia,  a  Baptist 
institution,  was  removed  to  Clarksburg,  West  Virginia,  in  1876,  and 
for  a  short  time  occupied  what  was  then  known  as  the  Bartlett  Hotel 
building,  the  site  of  which  now  belongs  to  the  court  house  park,  hay 
ing  been  purchased  by  the  county  court  from  Lloyd  Lowndes.  I  he 
trustees  of  this  institution  caused  to  be  erected  a  large  brick  building 
in  what  was  known  as  Haymond’s  grove,  and  the  school  moved  into  it. 


HISTORICAL  PAGEANT 


That  location  now  is  known  as  Broaddus  addition.  This  institution 
was  moved  to  Philippi  in  the  year  1909. 

The  Salem  Academy  was  incorporated  under  the  laws  of  West 
Virginia,  December  28,  1888,  to  be  located  in  the  town  of  Salem.  The 
charter  provided  that  the  institution  is  to  be  subject  to  the  regula¬ 
tions  of  the  Seventh  Day  Baptist  Educational  Society,  for  the  purpose 
of  teaching  all  the  various  branches  of  learning  comprising  a  thorough 
academic  and  collegiate  course.  This  institution  was  opened  April  1, 
1889,  in  the  public  school  building,  with  J.  L.  Huffman  acting  principal. 
Shortly  after  the  opening  of  the  school  the  trustees  caused  to  be 
erected  adequate  and  convenient  buildings  in  the  western  part  of  the 
town  of  Salem,  at  which  place  this  institution  has  continued  to  the 
present  time. 

In  the  year  1876,  a  small  parish  school  was  established  in  Clarks¬ 
burg,  by  the  Catholic  Church  Society,  under  the  direction  of  Miss 
Mary  White.  In  1881,  a  colony  of  the  Sisters  of  St.  Joseph  was  sent 
from  Wheeling  and  a  first-class  academy  for  young  ladies  was  opened. 
Centennial  Hall  was  erected  and  in  it  the  preparatory  and  parish 
schools  were  taught  until  recent  years. 

Harrison  county  made  little,  if  any,  progress  with  the  free  school 
system  while  it  remained  a  part  of  the  state  of  Virginia,  although 
Virginia  had  provided  for  the  free  school  system  about  the  year  1857. 
At  the  time  West  Virginia  was  formed,  its  first  constitution  provided 
for  the  establishment  of  the  free  schools,  and  the  first  legislature  en¬ 
acted  a  free  school  system,  and  Dr.  Emory  Strickler,  of  Shinnston, 
was  elected  the  first  county  superintendent  of  schools. 

The  Clarksburg  graded  schools  were  opened  in  the  academy  build¬ 
ing  in  1866,  with  John  Conner  as  principal  and  four  assistants.  The 
free  school  system  grew  rapidly  in  public  favor  and  became  a  great 
factor  in  advancing  civilization  and  good  citizenship  in  Harrison 
county,  as  well  as  the  state. 

Industrial  Development 

About  the  year  1812,  John  G.  Jackson,  of  Clarksburg,  began  the 
manufacture  of  salt  about  three  miles  south  of  Clarksburg,  on  the 
West  Fork  river.  This  was  quite  an  industry  for  Harrison  county  at 
that  time,  owing  to  the  scarcity  of  that  product  in  this  section  of  the 
county. 

About  the  year  1800  a  man  named  Conrad,  who  lived  at  Bull  Town 
on  the  Little  Kanawha  river,  now  Braxton  county,  formerly  Harrison 
county,  owned  a  large  herd  of  cows,  and  these  cows  discovered  a  salt 
deposit  on  Conrad’s  farm.  This  salt  deposit  became  known  as  a  lick, 
which  was  frequented  by  cattle  from  the  neighborhood.  In  the  year 
1809,  John  Haymond  and  Benjamin  Wilson  began  the  manufacture  of 
salt  at  Bull  Town,  and  continued  until  1823,  at  which  time  the  salt 
works  were  abandoned.  The  manufacture  of  salt  at  this  place  was 
then  widely  known  in  the  United  States  and  Great  Britain  during  the 

A  corporation  was  organized  in  Clarksburg  in  the  year  1841,  for 
the  propagation  of  the  silk  worm  for  the  manufacture  of  silk.  The 


HISTORICAL  PAGEANT 


building  erected  and  used  for  this  purpose  was  located  near  what 
known  as  the  Barnes  Crossing  and  was  called  Co-coonery. 


was 


I?  ^1?  Jackson  began  the  manufacture  of  iron  near  what 

was  then  the  town  of  Clarksburg.  The  location  of  this  plant  was  on 
the  hilk  river,  just  beyond  what  is  now  known  as  Norwood  addition  to 
the  city  of  Clarksburg. 


Clarksburg  foundry  and  machine  works,  (J.  F.  Osborn  Brothers 
and  Company),  located  at  the  Northwestern  Turnpike  and  Main  street 
manufactured  boilers,  engines,  mill  machinery,  steam  pumps  etc 
This  iron  foundry  was  originally  established  in  1838,  and  rebuilt  and 
remodeled  by  the  Osborn  Brothers  in  1863,  which  is  still  in  operation. 

Chronology  tells  us  that  the  first  mill  built  in  Harrison  county 
was  about  the  year  1776,  and  located  on  the  east  bank  of  Elk  creek 
about  the  present  site  of  what  is  known  as  the  Lowndes  Mill.  Re¬ 
mains  of  the  dam  of  this  mill  may  still  be  seen  at  low  water  mark. 

A  man  by  the  name  of  George  Jackson  was  permitted  by  the 
county  court  of  Harrison  county  to  erect  a  mill  on  the  site  of  the  pres¬ 
ent  location  of  what  is  known  as  the  Lowndes  Mill. 


The  “Point  Mills”  were  later  erected  by  John  G.  Jackson,  on  the 
bank  of  the  West  Fork  river  below  the  mouth  of  Elk  creek,  and  about 
one  mile  from  the  court  house,  or  just  south  of  what  is  now  known  as 
Point  Comfort. 


Coal  is  found  in  Harrison  county  in  large  quantities  and  some  iron 
ore,  also  limestone  for  both  agricultural  and  mineral  purposes;  pot¬ 
ter’s  clay  exists  and  has  been  worked  to  some  extent;  sandstone  of 
good  quality  for  building  purposes ;  several  mines  of  coal  were  worked 
on  a  comparatively  large  scale  for  gas  manufacture  prior  to  the  year 
1900.  There  are  three  veins  of  coal  in  Harrison  county,  namely: 
Pittsburg,  Red  Stone  and  Sewickly. 


The  coal  of  Harrison  county  goes  to  the  eastern  and  western 
markets,  but  particularly  to  the  former,  with  an  exceedingly  high 
reputation  for  gas ;  it  is  also  a  good  steam  generator.  Compared  with 
the  Pennsylvania  and  West  Moreland  coals  of  West  Moreland  county, 
Pennsylvania,  (which  have  no  superior  in  that  state),  the  gas  from 
Harrison  county  coal  is  superior  in  illuminating  power,  but  not  quite 
equal  to  them  in  purity,  requiring  more  lime  in  purification. 


The  development  of  oil  and  gas  was  practically  in  its  infancy  up 
to  the  year  1900.  About  ten  or  fifteen  years  prior  to  that  date  there 
were  a  few  test  wells  drilled  for  oil  and  gas  and  these  wells,  or  the 
larger  portion  of  them,  produced  oil  and  gas  in  large  quantities, 
thereby  promising  a  great  future  for  the  development  of  oil  and  gas 

in  this  county. 


The  Clarksburg  Gas  Company  was  organized  in  1871,  with  the 
following  officers:  Lloyd  Lowndes,  president;  Burton  Despard,  vice 
president;  Richard  T.  Lowndes,  treasurer;  Evan  A.  G.  Smith,  secre¬ 
tary;  Lloyd  Lowndes,  B.  Despard,  R.  T.  Lowndes,  A.  G.  Smith,  B.  r. 
Shuttleworth,  N.  Goff,  Jr.,  N.  A.  Shuttleworth,  Edwin  Maxwell  and 
J.  F.  Osborn,  directors.  The  first  gas  was  made  and  used  January 

19,  1872. 


CLARKSBURG  COMMUNITY  SERVICE 


Agriculture 

The  Indians  were  the  first  to  engage  in  agriculture  in  Harrison 
county.  They  cleared  the  forest  in  spots  to  make  corn  fields,  and  they 
pastured  their  herds  in  places  where  natural  grass  grew  along  river 
bottoms. 

When  the  white  men  came  to  this  county,  they  took  up  agricul¬ 
ture  or  farming  where  the  Indians  had  left  it,  but  they  soon  enlarged 
and  improved  this  business  over  that  of  the  Indians.  The  Indians 
made  farming  an  avocation,  while  the  white  men  made  it  their  prin¬ 
cipal  business  or  vocation.  However,  agriculture  was  not  carried  on 
in  this  county  by  improved  and  scientific  methods  until  after  the  year 
1900. 

The  surface  of  the  county  is  rolling  and  hilly,  and  the  hills  being 
comparatively  low  and  the  valleys  wide.  There  is  much  improved  land 
and  the  soil  is  well  cultivated  and  fertile,  being  mainly  a  clay  and  cal- 
carious  loam,  six  to  eight  inches  deep  on  the  hills  and  twelve  to  eigh¬ 
teen  inches  in  the  valleys  and  on  the  level  lands.  The  principal  crops 
were  corn,  oats,  wheat,  rye  and  grass.  The  blue  grass  sods  over  the 
land  spontaneously,  making  it  rank  among  the  best  grazing  counties 
of  the  state.  There  are  none  better,  and  the  hills  and  valleys  yield 
about  alike. 

Harrison  stood  far  at  the  head  of  the  stock  raising  counties  of 
the  state,  preceding  the  year  1900.  About  the  year  1883,  the  annual 
amount  of  animals  sold  for  slaughter  reached  one-half  million  dollars, 
and  the  total  value  of  all  live  stock  reached  one  and  one-half  millions. 
Along  in  that  period  she  also  took  the  lead  in  the  production  of  hay 
and  stood  among  the  first  in  the  production  of  butter.  In  the  total 
value  of  all  farm  productions,  she  stood  at  the  head,  approximating 
about  one  and  one-half  millions  of  dollars  annually. 

Stock  cattle,  of  all  grades  and  ages,  were  grazed  until  ready  for 
market.  Some  dealers  would  cut  large  crops  of  hay  and  winter  exten¬ 
sive  herds  of  mixed  ages;  others  confined  themselves  to  grazing. 

Harrison  county  was  also  one  of  the  leading  counties  in  the  state 
in  the  production  of  horses. 


—RAY  L.  STROTHER 


HISTORICAL  PAGEANT 


Civic  and  Patriotic  Ideals 


1900-1923 


HE  ideals  of  the  citizens  of  Clarksburg  and  Harrison  county  for 
a  greater  and  more  prosperous  community  were  considerably 
inspired  because  of  the  possibilities  of  the  natural  resources  de¬ 
veloped  early  in  this  period.  The  immensity  of  the  production  of  coal 
oil  and  gas  was  such  as  to  justify  the  belief  that  Clarksburg  would 
eventually  become  a  city  worthy  of  the  metropolis  of  Harrison  county. 


The  ideals  of  its  citizens  were  realized  to  the  fullest  extent,  so 
far  as  patriotism  and  love  for  home,  state  and  country  is  concerned, 
at  the  inception  of  the  World  War,  1914. 

Historians  will  record  the  fact  that  4,600  young  men,  the  very 
best  of  its  citizenship,  responded  to  the  call  of  country  and  were 
mustered  in  for  service  in  the  great  struggle.  Nineteen  hundred  of 
these  boys  were  listed  from  Clarksburg  proper,  the  balance  from  the 
mines  and  farms  of  Harrison  county. 


Space  will  not  permit  reviewing  the  activities  of  all  of  the  local 
civic  and  patriotic  organizations  during  the  war  period.  Suffice  to 
say  that  they  responded  nobly  and  citizens  generally  subscribed  to 
the  various  loans  and  other  war  drives  to  such  an  extent  as  to  fill 
Clarksburg  and  Harrison  county’s  quotas  without  any  difficulty. 


Some  of  the  civic  bodies  that  were  organized  during  the  period, 
1900-1923,  part  of  them  as  the  result  of  the  war  and  others  through 
the  desire  of  being  of  service  to  the  community,  are  the  Clarksburg 
and  Harrison  County  Branch  of  the  Red  Cross,  formed  in  1917; 
Woman’s  Civic  Club,  in  1916;  the  Boy  Scouts  of  America,  in  1917; 
Rotary  Club,  in  1916 ;  Business  and  Professional  Women’s  Club,  in 
1916;  Marcato  Club,  in  1905;  Roy  E.  Parrish  Post,  American  Legion, 
1919;  Meuse- Argonne  Post  No.  573,  Veterans  of  Foreign  Wars,  1920; 
Kiwanis  Club,  1920;  Quota  Club,  1922;  and  Community  Service  of 
Clarksburg,  in  1922. 


The  Clarksburg  Chamber  of  Commerce,  the  parent  civic  and  com¬ 
mercial  organization  of  the  city,  is  the  outgrowth  of  the  Board  of 
Trade,  organized  in  1906.  This  organization  has  constantly  endeav¬ 
ored  to  uphold  and  perpetuate  the  ideals  of  its  members  and  citizens 
generally  for  a  greater  and  more  wholesome  community  in  which  to 
live  and  work.  Its  war  record  alone  justified  its  continued  existence. 

The  municipal  government  of  Clarksburg,  operating  under  the 
City  Manager  plan  since  1921,  is  keeping  step  with  other  modern 
municipalities  in  taking  care  of  the  needs  of  its  inhabitants.  Great 
progress  is  being  made  in  municipal  works  and  will  continue  unabated 
so  long  as  the  wishes  of  its  citizens  are  recognized. 

Fourteen  religious  denominations  are  recognized  in  Clarksburg 
and  its  adjacent  territory  and  with  two  undenominationals.  This  list 
includes  the  Methodist  Episcopal  with  fifteen  church  buildings;  the 
Baptist  with  seven  structures;  the  United  Brethren  with  four,  the 
Catholic  with  four ;  the  Christian  church  with  four;  the  Presbyterian 
with  three;  the  Methodist  Protestant  with  three;  the  Congregational , 


CLARKSBURG  COMMUNITY  SERVICE 


the  Christ  Episcopal;  St.  Mark’s  Lutheran;  Hebrew  Congregation ; 
the  Latter  Day  Saints ;  the  Christian  Science ;  the  Pentecostal  Church 
of  the  Living  God,  and  several  missions. 

There  are  over  fifty  fraternal  and  affiliated  organizations  in 
Clarksburg.  The  Clarksburg  Order  of  Elks,  Masonic  organizations 
and  several  others  have  their  own  substantial  buildings.  Nearly  every 
fraternal  body  or  lodge  of  standing  in  the  country  is  represented  in 
this  community,  all  prospering  and  in  a  flourishing  condition. 

Clarksburg’s  ideals  are  still  high:  a  vision  for  a  city  greater, 
the  building  of  a  prosperous  and  ideal  city. 


G.  D.  THELEEN 


